A Lifetime Waiting
by WIllsSonny
Summary: This story will be different parts of Will and Sonny's lives together with the common theme of Sonny always being late, leaving Will waiting. Don't worry too much about the timeline in relation to Days storyline, some things are the same and some I took license with. Suggestions and feedback are always appreciated. Cheers.
1. Chapter 1

**FIRST DATE**

Gabi was walking through the Horton Town Square, both hands full of bags stuffed with new clothes and shoes. She stops to look in the window of the new dress shop next to the café and in the window she sees the reflection of a familiar face. Gabi turns to see Will sitting on the couch in the center of the square biting on his fingernail and glancing around nervously. "Will!" She called after him "Will!"

Will looks over to see Gabi hustling toward him."Gabi, hey, what are you doing?" he asked as she sat down next to him.

"Shopping!" she said excitedly.

"Jeez, did you leave anything in the store?" noticing the abundance of bags she was carrying.

"Just the ugly stuff" she joked "What's up with you? You look nice." Will was wearing his favorite jeans, a light blue button down and the navy blazer with leather patches on the elbows that Gabi bought him when they were dating.

"Do I? Good, I was worried. I'm a little nervous. The jackets not too much?"

"No, it looks good. It makes your eyes stand out, that's why I bought it for you." she brushed some lint off of the lapel "Too much for what? What are you nervous about?"

"Uhm, nothing. I uh… I sort of have a date." Will said.

"Ooh, a date." said Gabi, smiling at Will. "With who, do I know him?"

"Sonny Kiriakis" he responded, trying to contain his excitement.

Gabi thought to herself, trying to place where she knew that name. "Wait, the coffee shop guy? With the hair?" she put her hand to her forehead simulating the shape of the coffee shop boy's hair quaff. "You finally asked him out?"

"He asked me out, and his hair is not that big." Will chided Gabi "Besides I really want to touch him…" Will cheeks turned red and he corrected himself "…touch it …his hair I mean, I really want to touch his hair."

"Will, I am so happy for you. What time is the date?" she asked.

Will looked at his watch "About 20 minutes ago."

"What!? He stood you up? I'll kill him." Gabi stood up angrily.

"No, No, calm down killer, he didn't stand me up." Will reassured her "He got held up at the coffee house, he texted me saying he wanted to go home and change real quick. I said I didn't mind waiting."

"Oh, good, I thought I was going have throw down on somebody."

Will laughed "Really? You, Gabi? You're going to _throw down_."

"Will!" he heard from across the square. Looking up, he saw Sonny jogging over to where he and Gabi sat. "Okay, there he is." he turned to Gabi "Please be nice, no throwing down, okay? For me?" Gabi made an 'X' sign over her heart "I'll behave." she promised. Will looked back to Sonny, who had closed the distance between them enough that he was now walking. It was as if everything slowed down around him as Will watched Sonny approach and soaked it all in, burning this image of Sonny in his mind. The first thing that caught his eye was the hair, dark and thick, perfectly imperfect and his smile, wide and big and inviting. Sonny was wearing dark blue jeans and a purple v-neck sweater with a white shirt underneath. He shuttered inside a little at the way the sweater clung to Sonny's body, showing off his broad chest. Will watched as Sonny walked the last few steps to where he and Gabi were.

"Will, hey. I'm so sorry I'm late." Sonny said.

Will and Gabi stood up as Sonny reached the couch. "Not a problem." replied Will "Like I said, I don't mind waiting." He extended his hand to Sonny just as Sonny was leaning in to give Will a hug. Noticing the others intended greeting, the boys quickly switched to accommodate the other, Sonny extending his hand and Will leaning in for a hug. The two stood there awkwardly, "Um, sorry, uh… Hi." Will said and patted Sonny on the shoulder. Gabi watched the two nervously greeting each other, shaking her head and silently laughing to herself.

"So you got held up at work, anything serious?" asked Will.

"No, nothing major. Someone called in sick and I had to replace the shift before I left. The joys of being the boss, I guess. Then I uh…" Sonny could not tear himself away from Wills eyes, the deep bright blue was mesmerizing "…I wanted to change for tonight, get out of my work clothes."

His smile is incredible Will thought to himself "Well, I'm glad. You look really good."

They stood there staring and smiling, saying nothing, lost in their own world. "Ahem…" Gabi feigned a cough into her hand trying to bring Will back to the present.

"Oh, jeez, sorry Gabi" Will said, startled. "Um, yeah. Gabi this is Sonny. Sonny, this is my best friend, Gabi."

Sonny turned and offered his hand to her, "Nice to meet you, Gabi."

"Nice to meet you too, Sonny," she said shaking Sonny's hand "and he is right, you look really nice."

"Thank you," he said glancing over to Will and smiling "I'm out to impress tonight."

"Well, I don't think you'll have any problem with that." Gabi said reaching over and pinching Will's arm whose cheeks reddened when all attention was suddenly on him. "So where are you two going?"

"Yeah, where are we going?" Will asked Sonny "You never told me."

"I made reservations at Vincent's, I hope you like Italian."

"I love Ital…" Will started to say.

"Oh, he loves Italian." interrupted Gabi. "So, Vincent's huh? Wow, you really are out to impress. Just remind him not to order ravioli, it makes him fart."

"Gabi! What the hell?" Will exclaimed.

Sonny's laughter was drowning out Will's protests as Gabi continued "Oh, and if he offers to share a dessert, don't believe him. He takes huge bites and by the time you get your fork ready, it'll be gone. Also, and you're going to want to remember this one," she grabbed Sonny's arm, leaning in as if sharing a secret with him "if he drinks too much he gets really hor…"

"Okay!" It's time to go. Goodnight, Gabi." Will cut her off "Start walking," he told Sonny pushing him along and pointing in the direction of the exit to the town square. Sonny stumbled slightly against Will's hands gently shoving him forward, "Nice meeting you, Gabi. Thanks for the advice!" he called over his shoulder. "I like her." He said glancing back at Will, still laughing. "Keep moving, chuckles." responded Will, smiling.

"Wait!" Gabi called after them "Guys, hold up a second."

The two boys stopped and waited for Gabi to catch up. "What now, Gabi" asked Will "Do you want to tell him that if I laugh too hard, I snort a little?"

"No, you just told him." Gabi smiled. "I just wanted to get a picture to commemorate your first date." she said pulling out her phone.

"Great idea." agreed Sonny putting his arm around Will and pulling him close.

Gabi fiddled with her phone and aimed it at Will and Sonny. "Ready?"

Time slowed down again for Will as Sonny embraced him. A comforting warmth took over Wills body as the weight of Sonny's arm landed on his shoulders. The warmth moved down his spine as Sonny slid his arm down Will's back. He felt the arm leave the small of his back and glide up the inside of his own arm. As the palm of Sonny's hand rested in the palm of his, he looked over to Sonny's face. He was facing the camera and Will caught the silhouette of his eyelashes in the lights from the street. Their fingers intertwined and Will smiled… and then a flash.

Will sat on the bench outside of Vincent's waiting for Sonny to emerge again from the crowd standing around the hostess station. After several minutes, Sonny maneuvered his way through the mass of people back to Will, "Um, a little bit of bad news," he said "because we were late, they gave away our reservation."

"What do you mean _**we**_ were late?" Will teased.

"Okay, fine. _**I **_was late." Sonny corrected himself "Anyway, it's going to be like 20-30 minutes for a table. Is that okay."

"Sure, I don't mind waiting." Will replied, patting the space next to him on the bench.

Sonny sat down next to Will, one leg crossed underneath him, facing Will, and laid his arm along the back of the bench. "I'm really sorry, Will, I'm usually never late."

"Somehow I don't believe that." Will laughed, leaning back against the bench and Sonny's arm. "Besides, I said I don't mind waiting, it will give us time to talk."

"Sounds good to me." Sonny said smirking.

They talked and laughed and flirted with each other unaware of the time passing. Sonny looked at his watch "Wow, It's been over an hour." he said. "I'll go check on the table." Will watched him walk away, his eyes lingering a little too long on Sonny's rear. "Get a hold of yourself, Horton." he thought to himself "It's just a butt, a perfectly round, tight bubble butt that I just want to bite and li…" Will grit his teeth together lustily, "Breathe in, breathe out." He repeated to himself silently, as Sonny returned.

Sonny plopped down on the bench dejectedly "Well, apparently they called our name twice and when we didn't answer, they gave away our table, again. She was kind of snotty about it, too. So, it's going to be another 20-30 minutes." he pouted. "I'm sorry Will, I didn't even hear them call us. This night is not going the way I planned."

"It's fine, Son, I didn't hear her either. Besides, I'm having a good time." Will reached over and put his hand on Sonny's knee reassuringly.

He thought he felt his heart skip a beat and everything stopped momentarily as he stared at Wills hand on his knee. "Say something" he thought to himself "he's touching you, say something… wait, did he call me 'Son', nobody calls me 'Son', I like that. I like the way he says that… god he's cute… look at his collar bone sticking out from his shirt, I want to bite that… wait, that's not normal, why do I want to bite that… crap, say something, it's been way too long… say something, anything."

"Uhm… hung… food?" was all Sonny could get out.

"What?" laughed Will "Hung food?"

"Sorry, I meant hungry. You must be hungry, I know I am. We've been waiting a while." Sonny said as his brain returned to the conversation.

Will looked at Sonny slumped into the bench sulking at his date plan having gone to dirt. "Alright, change of plans." Will announced, standing up "Get up." he commanded Sonny.

"What are we doing?"

"I know another place, it's small and quiet and there's hardly ever a wait." he held his hand out to Sonny, "Trust me?"

Sonny met Will's eyes. Standing up slowly, never letting his gaze break from those blue eyes. He took Will's hand in his, and with a tone more serious than the moment called for, he spoke. "Yeah, I trust you, Will."

"Wow. When you said small, you weren't kidding, huh?" Sonny said staring at the little take out place. Goombah's Pizza was nestled in the back corner of St. Luke's Catholic Church, across from the Salem Park, in what used to be a church storage space, roughly the size of a walk-in closet. Goombah's was no frills all the way, from its lone brick pizza oven to the Dutch door where you ordered. There were no tables, no credit cards taken, no drinks, and no plates. Angelo, or Goombah as everybody called him, rounded all prices to the nearest dollar, so there was no need for a cash register either. A small metal cash box sat atop the Dutch door, no one would ever even think about stealing it, you just wouldn't. Only one size pizza was available, no slices, unless you were a cop then you can get a slice on the house, anytime you want. The rules were simple, no more than two pies per customer, no more than three toppings _EVER, _when he runs out of dough they close, if Goombah liked you, you get napkins and never, and this is important, never ask for pineapple on a pizza.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise you there is no better pizza, anywhere." Will said.

He tugged on Sonny's hand heading him over. "Hey Goombah, any dough left?" Will asked the large, sweaty, balding man leaning on the Dutch door, reading a copy of US Weekly.

Goombah looked up from his magazine to Will "Am I still open?" he asked.

"Yeah" Will responded, somewhat confused.

"Then there's dough left, Horton."

"Cool, can I get a pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive please." he ordered, then turned to Sonny "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, sound goods. Do you want to get sausage too?"

Will shook his head furiously at Sonny as Goombah slammed the US Weekly down on the top of the door and glared at him. "He didn't know Goombah, I'm sorry." Will moved to stand between Sonny and the pizza makers stare "Really, it's his first time, he didn't know, I'm sorry. Can we still get a pie, please?"

Goombah held his glare on Sonny as he moved to start their pizza, "Come back, 11 minutes." he said.

"11 minutes, great, thanks Goombah." Will said, ushering Sonny away from the window.

"What did I do?" asked Sonny "That guy looked like he wanted to stab me or something."

"He's very serious about his pizza, no more than three toppings, ever, and he means it. He says too many toppings fight with each other and the pie wont taste right. I'm just glad you didn't ask for pineapple, I wouldn't have been able to save you."

"Thanks for the warning." Sonny laughed. "Hey, wait here a sec, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay." Will watched as Sonny jogged into the corner store at the other end of the block, emerging a couple minutes later carrying a six-pack of beer. He strolled triumphantly back over to will, grinning at his accomplishment, holding the six-pack up for Will to admire.

Will laughed at Sonny, beaming with pride at his purchase, then he remembered what Gabi had said to Sonny earlier, "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Maybe." he responded coyly.

After 11 minutes exactly, Goombah called out "Horton!" They walked back over, "12 bucks." he said. Will gave him the cash, Goombah placed 3 napkins on top of the box and went back to his US weekly.

"Thanks, Goombah." Will picked up the box and motioned for Sonny to follow him.

Sonny followed Will across the street to the park; they walked along the brick path to the picnic tables next to the duck pond. They found the table furthest from the path and sat across from each other under the yellow glow of a nearby lamppost. Will set the pizza box on the table between them and opened it up.

"God, that smells awesome." Sonny said, taking the napkin Will offered him.

"Wait 'til you taste it." Will replied, winking at Sonny.

"You mean the pizza, right blondie?"

Will smiled back at him, blushing slightly. "Shut up and eat." he teased. "Oh, I hope you like black olives, I didn't even ask you, sorry." Will picked up a piece of the pizza.

"Please, I'm Greek, I was practically weaned on olives." Sonny replied, grabbing a slice for himself.

Will chuckled through mouthful of pizza, nodding as he wiped a bit of sauce off his lips.

"So how do you know about that place, I don't think I've ever noticed it before." Sonny asked taking a bite.

"Um, my grandfather took me…" Will started to answer.

Sonny interrupted "Holy crap!" he said, staring at the slice of pizza in his hand in disbelief, then looked up to Will.

Will smiled and nodded at Sonny "I told you. It's good, huh?"

"Good? This is the best pizza I've ever had. That crazy guy is a genius."

"Good, I'm glad you like it." Will watched as Sonny took another huge bite of pizza. "As I was saying, my grandfather took me there for lunch when I was a kid and would visit him at the station. We would come over here and eat by the pond, then he would let me feed the crusts to the ducks."

Sonny reached over and grabbed two beers out of the six-pack. He twisted off the caps and handed one to Will. Will thanked him and continued his story. Sonny listened to Will talk about his grandfather and noticed his expression sour a little as he finished.

"Anyway, we used to come here a lot, but I haven't been in forever. It's still just as good as ever." Will took a swig of his beer.

"You and your grandpa don't go to lunch anymore?"

"Um, not in a while I guess. Things have been a little weird since I, uh… came out. I'm sorry this is not great first date talk is it?"

"No, it's fine. I want to hear it. You can tell me anything you want" Sonny reassured him.

Will smiled. "Well, okay. Here goes. It took me years to come to terms with being gay and accepting it. When I finally got to a place inside where I was happy, where I felt like Will again, I decided to tell my family and friends." He looked over to Sonny's deep brown eyes, listening intently. "Everyone took it really well for the most part. My parents freaked out little, but came around pretty quick. Gabi and my Grandmas said they already knew. Grandpa Roman, however… Well, I guess he's still trying to wrap his head around it." Will took another swig of beer, finishing off his third slice of pizza. "Are you finished?" he asked Sonny.

"Yeah, I'm stuffed." he said, throwing his crumpled napkin into the empty pizza box.

Will picked up the pizza box, folded it in half, and shoved it in the trash can. "Come on." he said to Sonny grabbing his hand and pulling him up. He led him over to the swing set in the play area on the opposite side of the brick path. They sat and swung next to each other, talking and laughing.

"So, Gabi knew already, huh?" Sonny asked "She was your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, she said she knew. Looking back, it must have been pretty obvious. We had sex once, and it was fine, but we never… I never really… connected, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking so much about my past, should I."

"Will, it's okay. Besides, I asked didn't I?"

Will's phone beeped and he stopped swinging to fish it out of his pocket. "Everything okay?" asked Sonny.

"It's a text from Gabi, speaking of the devil."

"What's it say?"

"Hope you guys are having fun! Love you." Will read the text, "She sent the picture she took, too."

"Cool, let me see it."

Will grabbed the chain of Sonny's swing and pulled him over. Sonny put his arm around Will's waist to keep himself from swinging back away, crowding up next to Will to look at the picture. "Don't laugh." Will said, tilting the phone so Sonny could get a good view. Sonny looked at the picture of himself from earlier, smiling at the camera and holding Wills hand for the first time, then he saw Will, looking at his profile and smiling.

"I like the way you're looking at me in this pict…" Sonny turned his head to Will and saw the same smile from the picture looking back at him, inches away from his lips. Their eyes met and Will leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was soft and still and tender and quick. As Will kissed him, Sonny moved his hand to pull Will closer. His arm let go of Will's waist and he was pulled away from the kiss.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as the swing drew him away from Will. Sonny steadied himself and stood up from the swing. "Stop laughing." he said pulling Will up. Will stood and smiled into Sonny's eyes, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Sonny's neck. Their lips met again, soft and tender, then deep and sensual. Will moved his hand to the side of Sonny's face, accepting his tongue as Sonny's hold on him tightened. He wrapped his fingers in the back of Sonny's hair, resting his forehead against Sonny's as their lips parted.

"Wow." they whispered together, then laughed softly, holding each other.

They walked quietly hand in hand along the brick path out of the park, through the town square, until they reached Will's apartment. Will's pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door; he stopped and turned to Sonny. "Do you want to come in? he asked, smiling.

"You know what, I really, really do, but…" he straightened the lapels on Will's jacket and rested his palms on Will's chest, "…next time?"

Will smiled again and nodded. "Next time."

"But, thanks for the pizza and the swings." Sonny grinned "And thanks for telling me about coming out and your grandpa. I hope it all works out with him, he sounds like a good guy."

"He is. I'm sure we'll get there eventually, I just don't know what to say to him anymore."

"Will, when I came out to my brother, he freaked the hell out. We didn't talk for almost two years. He kept saying he couldn't understand 'gay love', that it was unnatural and wrong. Finally, after another family holiday sitting in the same room and not even being acknowledged by him, I forced him to talk to me. It took a while, and some effort from both of us, but we're good now, really good."

"What did you say to him?" Will asked.

"The truth, Will. That I was the same person I had always been and that love is love, whether it is _he_ loves _her_, or _she_ loves _her_, or _he_ loves _him_." Sonny took Will's hands into his own. "Love is Love, Will. The only difference is the pronoun."

Will was struck by the simplicity of Sonny's words. He held back a tear, pulling Sonny into his arms, tasting his lips once again. He would remember this kiss for all time to come. In later years, when asked, he would say this was the moment he fell in love.

Sonny hugged Will tightly, "I guess I better go, its late." he said "I had a great time Will. I can't wait to do it again."

"Me either." Will replied.

"Okay. Night, Will." he gave him another peck on the lips, "Oh, and I'm really sorry I was late, it won't happen again."

"No problem, Son. Goodnight." Will leaned against his apartment door and smiled, watching Sonny walk down the stairs in the fading light until he couldn't make him out anymore. "I don't mind waiting."


	2. Chapter 2

**SECOND CHANCES**

"You're late." Chad said as Sonny rushed in through the back entrance of Common Grounds.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." he said throwing his jacket onto the chair in the back office.

"Lauren was off 30 minutes ago, and I'm heading out too. Are you sure you're okay working by yourself tonight?" asked Chad.

"I'm fine." he replied through a sigh as he tied his apron on.

Chad watched Sonny struggling to tie his apron correctly, he look frazzled and weary. "Are you alright, man?"

Sonny glared at him.

"Okay, fine." he shrugged "But if you ever want to talk."

"Chad, I'm fine, really. I'll see you later." reassured Sonny. He grabbed his clipboard, walked out to the front of the coffee shop and took his place behind the counter. "Hey, Lauren. Thanks for staying, sorry I was late." he said smiling at her.

"No biggie." she said, smiling back. "Everything is all stocked up here for tonight, so you should be good to go."

"Great. Thanks again, Lauren. Have a good night."

"You too, Sonny. Oh, and there's someone here waiting for you." she pointed behind Sonny as she left.

Sonny turned around to see Sami standing at the counter. It had been almost four months since he had spoken to anyone from Will's family, but avoiding them was proving to be more tiresome and harder than he expected. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

"Hi, Sonny."

"Sami." he acknowledged, his voice was colder than he intended.

"How are you?" she asked. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm good." Sonny said blankly.

Sami stood there in uncomfortable silence, going over in her mind the best way to bring up the reason for her visit. "Look, Sonny, I just…"

Sonny cut her off, "Did you want to order coffee or something, Sami?" he asked dismissively. He did not want to discuss this with her.

Sami saw the hurt on Sonny's face, avoiding eye contact with her at all costs. She sits down on a stool at the counter and reaches over to rest her hand on top on Sonny's.

"Don't." he says softly, his voice trembling and vulnerable.

Sami did not want to push him too much, so she withdrew her hand, placing it in her lap. "We missed you at her service." she said, more as a question than a statement.

Sonny leaned against the back counter, facing Sami, his head bowed as he fussed with his apron strings. Regret filled in him once again for not attending the funeral; they had been friends at one time after all. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was still… I don't know, angry, I guess. I sent flowers though."

"We saw them, they were beautiful."

Sonny smiled softly in appreciation. "Look, Sami, I appreciate you coming down here, but…" he rubbed his eyes with the bottom of his palms, "…I can't do this right now."

"He misses you, Sonny."

"No. He doesn't." he said, as if it was a matter of fact. "I've tried talking to him so many times. He won't listen. I text him, he doesn't reply, I call him, and it goes straight to voice mail. I went to his apartment and he moved, Sami! I don't even know where he is!" Sonny wipes a tear from his cheek, "No, it's over, Sami. I've lost him." Sonny buries his face in his hands, trying desperately to hold himself together.

"He thinks you don't love him anymore. He's afraid, so he shut you out." she explains "He's been through a lot, Sonny. He needs you." Sami reached into her purse for a small piece of yellow paper. "Look at me, Sonny."

He picks up his head and looks to Sami through red, watery eyes.

"Do you still love him?" she asks.

Sonny nods his head gently.

"Here" she places the small yellow paper on the counter. "It's the same complex, he upgraded to a two bedroom." Sami got up and pulled her purse onto her shoulder, walking to the exit. She stopped at the door and turned back to Sonny, "Good luck." she said, and then left.

Sonny stared at the paper on the counter then looked back to the door. He wiped his eyes and picked it up, turned it over and read, "Apt. 908".

_Will was cold. He could see his breath on the air, mixed with the fog of the forest; the only sound was the remains of the abandoned gravel path crunching beneath his feet. His arms were wrapped tightly around himself, trying to keep warm. He couldn't remember why he didn't have his jacket or even how he got there, only that he was cold. He came to a stop as the crunching beneath his feet ceased. The path broke off in two directions, he looked down one path and saw more of the same darkness and fog; looking down the other was no different except for the far off glow of a small light. Will looked again down the first path, then turned and walked toward the light. The light never seemed to get closer as he walked, and a panic was setting in. Will started jogging toward the light, it was moving away from him now; he sped up and the light moved quicker. Will was now at a full run, but still could not reach the light. _

"_Wait!" he called out "Please wait!" he stumbled to a halt, exhausted, leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Please wait, please…" He fell to his knees crying, his breathing staggered. The light was gone. "I'm alone," he cried to himself "I can't do it… I'm alone."_

_Will sat in the path, feeling lost in the sudden quiet. From the darkness he heard the soft wails of an animal in distress. Will got up and walked into the woods, off of the path, following the sound of the animal's cries. He pushed his way through trees until he reached an embankment to a river below. The moon was bright through a clearing in the trees and illuminated the river. On the opposite side of the river Will saw a small young buck flailing in the water. He heard cries of fear from the deer as its head bobbed in an out of the water, fighting against the hold of the deep. Will slid down the muddy embankment to the river's edge. His whole body seized as he plunged himself into the frigid water and he stopped to steady himself as a voice called out._

"_Save him."_

_Will looked around him but saw no one, he turned back to the deer. Its head came out of the water and Will caught the terror in the buck's familiar dark brown eyes. Will started swimming toward the deer, pushing against the heavy current with all his strength. His arms and legs grew tired quickly and he had to catch his breath. He stopped and tried to tread water but his body was limp and the current was winning. Will's head ducked under water and he fought to get back to the surface. He floated still in the water struggling for air, resigned to his fate._

"_Save him." he heard again, echoing on the air and trees._

_Will fought to lift his head above the water, looking over toward the deer. Behind the drowning deer, on the edge of the river he saw another young buck calling desperately to his dying friend. Will watched as the other deer flung itself into the water, grabbing the back of his friend's neck in his teeth and pulling him to the safety of the shore. The exhausted deer lay on ground at the feet of his rescuer; the other buck lovingly nuzzled his nose against his tired friend, it then turned to look at Will. Will stared into the deep blue eyes of the deer, its gaze burning into him. Confused and gasping for air, Will's limp body succumbed to the icy waters._

"_Save him."_

Will was stirred from his sleep by a knock at the apartment door. He sat up on the couch, his tank top sticking to his body from sweat, shaking the images out of his head. "Every night" he said aloud to no one, rubbing his eyes to clear his head of a dream that has invaded his sleep for months. The room was dark and still, the only light seemed far away, shining from the peephole of the door; then another soft knock.

Sonny stood outside of Will's apartment staring at the handwritten note on the door. "Knock quietly, please." he read. "Maybe it's too late for this tonight." Sonny thought to himself, "I can come back tomorrow." He turned and started back down the stairs, stopping at the top of the steps, "Stop being a fucking chicken shit!" he cussed to himself. He turned again and walked back to the door. He took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out through his mouth, then another. Raising his fist to knock, he remembered the note, and rapped on the door softly. There was no response. He pressed his ear to the door and heard movement inside. He knocked again, no answer. His shoulders and head fell in defeat "Fuck" he grumbled to himself, turning to leave. Sonny heard the door open and quickly spun around to Will standing in the doorway.

"Sonny?"

"Um… Hi." Sonny said. He looked at Will standing in the doorway; it had been months since he'd seen him and his heart clenched at the site. Will's eyes were red and puffy, his hair was longer than Sonny had remembered and he was unshaven. His tank top stuck to his body from sweat and his voice was raspy. "Sorry, Will, did I wake you up?"

"Yeah… Uh, no" Will replied, turning to the couch he was just on then back to Sonny, "I mean, I was just napping." Will had tried his best to avoid Sonny over the past few months, seeing him was too painful, but now here he is at his door. He ached to just hold Sonny, but he was still hurt from Sonny's actions, besides, he thought that Sonny was better off without him and the burdens Will's life brought. "What are you doing here, Sonny?" he asked accusingly.

"I uh…" Sonny began "…it's just I haven't seen you in a while. I wanted to… I don't know… check in."

"Check in?" Will asked.

"Yeah, you know, catch up… talk." Sonny motioned between the two of them.

"We've already had that conversation, Sonny." Will was trying his best to get Sonny to leave, he could feel the tears welling up and he would not cry in front of Sonny again. Will was leaning against the door jamb of the apartment door and as he saw Sonny's face harden at his answer, he pulled the door closer to himself, shielding the apartment from Sonny's anger.

"No we haven't, Will." Sonny barked out "_You_ won't have this conversation, and I'm not leaving until you do." Sonny shoved the door open and forced himself past Will, into the apartment. He turned to Will and began to yell "You don't return my calls, you don't text me back, and I'm fucking sick of it. We need to fix this, Will."

Will closed the door and motioned with his hands for Sonny to calm down "Fine, Sonny, we'll talk, but please, be quiet." he said, turning his head to look down the hallway to the bedrooms.

Sonny glanced downed the hall and nodded to Will with understanding. He watched as Will sat down on the couch, running his hands through his hair in exasperation. He sat down on the coffee table, looking to Will, "I'm worried about you, Will. I called you after… it happened. You know, to see if you're okay. Why won't you talk to me?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine, Sonny." Will sniffled. "It is what it is, there's nothing I can do about now."

"Will…" Sonny said sympathetically, placing his hand on Wills knee.

He jumped up off the couch at Sonny's touch "I said I'm fine, Sonny. Drop it."

Sonny stood up to face him "You're not fine, Will." He looked back down the hall and quieted his voice again "Jesus, Will, you became a dad and Gabi died, all within an hour. You can't be fine. Please talk to me, let me help you."

Will was pacing around the room, the pain and loss of the last few months was smothering him but he could not let himself fall apart, not in front of Sonny, not now that Sonny was no longer his. He couldn't forgive him, even though they weren't together, he still felt betrayed.

"Will, please." Sonny was begging.

Will could not hold it together any longer. The pain of Sonny's presence was overwhelming and everything came flooding out at once. "What do you want to hear, Sonny? That I'm not okay? Is that it? Fine, Sonny, I'm not okay!" Will was yelling in a hushed tone "I screwed everything up, everything! You, Gabi, everything." His voice cracked as he started to cry, "The only reason I'm still breathing is because of my daughter, I have to be strong for her, she's all I have left."

"Will, you didn't screw everything up, Gabi dying giving birth was not your fault. It's horrible, but it happens."

"I couldn't do anything, Sonny. Ari was born… and I was holding her and it was the happiest…" Will trailed off into sobs, "…and then I look at Gabi… and she's gone, man. The doctors and nurses are working on her, trying to bring her back, but I saw it in her eyes... she was just… gone." Will wiped his eyes, sniffling again "I was stupid, I got Gabi pregnant and now she's dead and you're gone and I'm alone."

"You're not alone, Will." Sonny said, tears filling his eyes "I'm right here, stop pushing me away." Will fought as Sonny tried pulling him in his arms.

"Stop it, Sonny. Don't." Will tried shoving him off, but it was no use, his emotions gave away and he collapsed into Sonny's embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

"It wasn't your fault, sweets. It's okay, everything okay." Sonny said softly. He held Will tightly until his crying stopped, gently reassuring him. Will calmed in Sonny's arms, the memories of being with Sonny came rushing back to him and for the first time in months, he felt almost whole again. He lifted his head and Sonny leaned in to kiss him.

Will welcomed Sonny's lips, a taste he'd desired for months, but he could not get the image of Sonny with another guy out of his head and the hurt resurfaced. He shoved Sonny away forcefully. "NO!" he cried, "I can't Sonny."

"Will, please. I miss you so much. I love you. Please." Sonny pleaded.

"No… I can't… it hurts too much. Every time I close my eyes I see you with him, Sonny. I can't be with you after that, it's too painful."

Confusion set into Sonny. His stomach wretched at the pain in Will's face, a pain he had apparently caused, but he had no clue what Will was talking about. "With who, Will?" he asked "I don't know what you're talking about. There isn't anybody else, I swear to you"

Will walked around Sonny, keeping distance between them, and sat back on the couch, He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and let out an angry breath "Come on, Sonny, you're not dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Will…" he said with desperation "I promise you, I don't know wha…"

"God damn it, Sonny, I saw you!" Will yelled. He glanced back down the hall to Arianna's bedroom, then lowered his voice and continued "That night at the coffee house, man…" Will sighed, "I saw you kissing Brian. "

Sonny shuttered as the night with Brian came crashing back to his mind, wincing at the thought of what pain Will must have felt seeing Brian kissing him. He has regretted kissing Brian from the moment it happened. "God, Will… I uh… I didn't ask him to, we were just talking, and then… and then he kissed me." Sonny tried to explain.

"You kissed him back, Sonny, so don't play so innocent, I saw you."

"Fine, you're right, Will. I kissed him." he conceded "But it didn't mean anything, I swear, it just… happened. I was confused and angry, and…" Sonny tried to calm himself to all the pent up emotions from the past months that were bubbling up. "You lied to me, Will! For months! You had countless chances to tell me about the baby, but you just kept lying. Do you know how that made me feel; that you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth?" Sonny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "So yeah, I kissed him. I was angry and weak, I guess, and I kissed him. But that was it, I promise. Just a stupid kiss and I've never regretted anything more in my life."

"It wasn't just a kiss, Sonny. You left with him. I know you slept with him…" Will shook his head angrily and gritted his teeth at the memory of Brian seeking him out at the pub and bragging. "He made that pretty clear."

Sonny was shocked at Will's confession, and then he fumed at the realization that the months he'd been without Will, the months of pain and tears were caused by Brian's lies. "What are you talking about, Will? What did he say to you exactly?" he asked angrily.

"I don't remember the exact words, Sonny, and I don't want to. But the gist of was that you guys had sex and you were amazing, but then he was sure that I knew what he meant… that smug prick." Will felt sick again, recalling the conversation in the pub with Brian. He was physically and mentally exhausted and the hurt of seeing Sonny again was proving too much to handle. "I'm sorry, Sonny, but I'm done. I need you to leave, please." Will got up off the couch and walked over and opened the door.

"No." Sonny shook his head, pushing the door closed and leaning his back against it so Will could not open it again. "I'm not leaving, not like this, not until you know the truth."

Will sighed aloud and raised his arms in exasperation, moving to the middle of the room "Jesus Christ, Sonny, what truth?"

"He lied, Will, he flat out lied. I never slept with him. I promise you, we just kissed."

"What? Why would he lie, Sonny?"

"I don't know, maybe to make sure that we wouldn't get back together, maybe just to be mean, I don't know why. But you have to believe me, Will, I never slept with him. We left the coffee house that night and went to his apartment and we kissed, and he wanted to… you know" he motioned with his hand "…but I didn't want to, I couldn't. I told him I shouldn't be there, that it was a mistake. I told him I loved you, Will. Only you; and that I had to go find you. Then I left, and I have not seen or spoken with him since. I called you that night, and I don't know how many times since, but you never answered and now I guess I know why. That's what really happened, that's all of it. Please believe me, Will."

Will was lightheaded from what he just heard; he sat down on the coffee table with his head in his hands trying to process it. He heard honesty in the desperation of Sonny's tone and he believed him, Brian had lied and the past months without Sonny were all for not. If he had only answered the phone one of the hundreds of time Sonny called, he now knew they would have reconciled. He still loved Sonny, but too much has happened since and he thought Sonny deserved better, that he deserved someone that made him happy, someone whose life was easy and uncomplicated, anyone but him.

"Do you believe me?" Sonny asked.

"I believe you, Son." Will said with his head still in his hands, "You didn't sleep with him, he lied."

Sonny smiled when Will called him "Son" he hadn't heard it in months and it triggered a sense of relief in him. He knelt down in front of Will, putting his hands on Will's knees. "Thank you, Will, thank you. I'm so sorry he lied to you. I'm so sorry I kissed him."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I lied to you for so long. I'm sorry everything got so messed up." Will apologized.

"It's all over now, Will. We can put it all behind us. Now we can be together again, right Will?"

Will didn't answer; he just sat there quietly with his head still in his hands. "Will?" he asked again, "We can get back together now, right?"

"I'm sorry, Sonny… No."

Sonny stood and backed up, looking down to Will who had not moved, "No?" his voice was trembling, fighting back tears. "I don't understand, Will. Please."

"It's too late, Sonny. Too much has happened, you deserve more than me and what my life brings with it."

"You don't get to decide that, Will!" Sonny said angrily. "I decide what I deserve, and I deserve to be happy. You make me happy, Will. I want to be with you and everything… everyone that comes with you."

"You don't mean that, Sonny." Will replied, his voice quivering. "It's better this way. I'm sorry."

Sonny backed up further until his back hit the wall of the apartment, trying to escape Will's words. "Please Will," he pleaded desperately. "I miss you so much it hurts. I can't live without you, I won't… I'll die." Sonny's voice cracked though his sobbing. "I need you in my life, Will. I need you with me, you make me whole. These past months without you… Will, I'm drowning."

The words hit Will hard, he looked up to Sonny and for the first time in months, he saw him, truly saw him. He was thinner and paler, with dark circles under his eyes, his hair was an unordinary mess. Sonny looked defeated. Will peered into Sonny's brown eyes and his heart wept at the fear and distress looking back at him. He's seen that look before, every night, for months, it has haunted his dreams. "What did you say?" he asked gently.

"Drowning… I'm drowning, Will." he repeated through his sobs.

Sonny watched as Will stood up and slowly walked over to where he was. He stood up straight against the wall as Will moved close into him, his face inches away. Will's blue eyes bored into his soul and he saw the brightness return to them. Will's eyes calmed him, reassured him. Will smiled at him with a look of recognition, shaking his head gently. "What?" Sonny asked, confused. Then Will spoke.

"Save him." Will said, then kissed him.

The force of Will's kiss pushed him up against the wall. He kissed him back furiously, tasting, sucking and nibbling every inch of Will's lips. "I missed you so much" Will said between a flurry of kisses. "I love you, Son. I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around Sonny's neck and pulled him in closer, forcing his tongue between his lips.

Sonny gently pushed on Will's chest, "Wait, Will… wait."

Will stopped. "What's the matter, what…?"

"Are you sure, Will? I mean two minutes ago, you were…"

"I know, I know… I was wrong. I thought it would be easier, but… I don't want to be alone anymore. I love you, I need you… and you need me, I know that now. So yes, Honey, I'm sure."

Sonny smiled, hugging Will tightly. "I do need you, Will, more than anything."

He kissed Will again, gently and soft. "Thank you." he said, smiling into Will's eyes, kissing him again. Will's hold on him tightened as the kiss became deeper, harder; his fingers dug into Sonny' side as he pulled him in closer. Sonny let a moan which only seemed to encourage Will. He pushed Sonny against the wall hard, knocking a picture frame to the floor with a loud crash. Their eyes met, exchanging months of lust and longing between them. Will gripped Sonny's shirt, ripping it open, biting at Sonny's lips.

"Ow!" Sonny let out.

"Sorry… I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Sonny said, removing the remains of his shirt.

Will smiled hungrily and pulled his tank top over his head. "Pants. Now." He commanded Sonny.

Sonny unzipped his jeans and slid them down, kicking off his shoes hurriedly as he watched Will push off his gym shorts. He flung himself on Will, taking him off balance and pulling him to the floor. He landed on top him, their lips connected again, tongues swirling. Will let out groan as their erections rubbed together, he wrapped his arms around Sonny and rolled him over, underneath him. He sucked and bit on Sonny's collar bone as he pushed Sonny's legs apart with his knees. He looked down to Sonny's face, smiling back up to his. He spit in his hand and rubbed it on himself, shifting his body to place it at Sonny's entrance. He pulled Sonny's leg up to his shoulder and pushed in gently, eliciting a groan of pleasure from Sonny. Will leaned down and kissed him. "I love that sound." he said and Sonny smiled. Will started a slow rhythm, easing in and out of Sonny, rewarded with a groan each time. His pace quickened and the moans quickened, then stopped.

Sonny opened his eyes and saw Will, still inside of him, looking over his shoulder, down the hall. "What's the matter? Why'd you stop?" he asked breathless.

"Shhh." Will placed his hand on Sonny's chest. "Shit." he said smiling, turning and lying down on top of Sonny chuckling to himself.

"What? I don't hear anything." Sonny said.

"Wait for it." replied Will.

Sonny laid there under Will, quietly listening. "I still don't hear anyth… Ohhhh." Sonny leaned his head back on the floor and laughed at the sounds of Arianna crying. "She's got good timing, doesn't she?"

Will stood up and put his shorts on. "I'm sorry, Son. It won't take long, I promise." he said smiling, picking up his shirt.

"It's fine, Sweets. I'm not going anywhere."

Will pulled his shirt over his head and looked to Sonny. "Do you want to meet her?"

Sonny propped himself up on his elbows. "What, now?" he asked.

"Yes now. I mean, put some clothes on, but yeah, now."

Sonny got dressed and followed him down the hall. Will opened the door quietly, walking over to the crib. Sonny stood in the doorway and watched as Will changed Arianna's wet diaper. He smiled at the sight of him tickling her stomach, and playing peek-a-boo.

"You can come closer, she doesn't bite. She doesn't even have teeth." Will joked.

Sonny came up next to Will, "She's beautiful, Will."

"She is, isn't she." Will said.

"I can't believe how much she looks like Gabi, except for the nose I mean, that's definitely your nose."

"Do me a favor, watch her for a sec." Will said, turning to leave the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" he asked, panicking.

"Relax, I'm just going to warm up a bottle. You'll be fine." Will left the room.

Sonny watched Will leave then turned his attention to Arianna. "Um… Hi." he said nervously, leaning over the crib. "I'm Sonny. I'm a friend of Will's… I mean your dad." Arianna giggled and kicked at the sound of her daddy's name. "What did I say that was so funny?" he cooed at her, pinching her foot. "Will" Sonny said again and she giggled and kicked some more. Sonny laughed at her, which only made her laugh louder. "Will, Will, Will" he goaded her on, Arianna squealed and cackled at Sonny. "You know what little girl, I feel the same way." he grinned, rubbing her soft head gently. Arianna stared back at him with the cutest smile he has ever seen, melting his heart.

Will walked back down the hall with the bottle and baby towel in hand, "Here you go, sweetheart," he called to Arianna "I've got your favorite…" He stopped at the doorway and saw Sonny sitting in the chair with Arianna in his arms, gazing down at her lovingly. He leaned against the door and watched silently as Sonny tickled her chin, her chubby little hands reaching up for his nose. He sighed to himself and a wave of joy fell over him. After a lifetime of waiting, the only he has ever wanted was right in front of him, happiness.

"Hey, you two."

Sonny looked up in amazement, "She's incredible, Will, just… incredible."

Will smiled, "Do you want to feed her?"

"Really? Yeah."

Will took the cap off the bottle and handed it to Sonny, and placed to towel over them. "She can't grip it yet, so you have to hold it for her, just tilt it up a bit. There you go."

Will stood over the two of them watching Sonny and Arianna stare at each other. "Sonny, you don't how long I have been waiting to see this." he said, running his fingers through the back of Sonny's hair.

He turned to look up to Will, "I know. I'm sorry I'm late." Sonny looked back down at Arianna, "It won't happen again, I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, it's been a hectic couple weeks down here. Thanks again for all the positive reviews and feedback, it's always nice to hear. Hope you enjoy this one too. Cheers!**_

**TATOOS & HAIRCUTS**

"Don't touch it, Ari, just look. Okay?" Abigail instructed.

"Okay." Arianna replied softly, staring at the lone suitcase travelling along the conveyer in the nearly empty baggage claim. She walked along beside the bag as it snaked around the track, until it disappeared back into the wall. "Bye, Bye!" she called to the bag, waving as it goes. Arianna rushed back to Abigail, latching onto her leg, "Where's Daddy?" she asked, looking up to Abigail.

"He's on the way, sweetie." Abigail answered, "The plane landed, they just have to walk to here from the terminal gate."

"Oh. What's ternimal?"

"_Term_-_i-nal._" Abigail corrected, "It's where the plane connects to the building."

"Oh." the almost three year old said, full of understanding, "What's connecks?"

Abigail sighed to herself in exhaustion. She adored the little girl clinging to her leg, but the last 10 days have only reassured her she is not ready for children. "Thank god." she said to herself as she saw Will walking down the stairs to the baggage claim. Abigail tapped Arianna on the head and pointed toward Will, now at the bottom of the stairs and walking toward them. "Look, Ari. Who's that?"

Arianna turned her head to where Abigail was pointing. "Daddy!" she squealed and ran toward Will.

Will dropped his backpack to the floor and kneeled down to scoop her up. "Hi, sweetie." he said picking her up, hugging her and kissing her cheek "Ooh, I missed you so much. How's my little eggo?"

"Good." Arianna smiled back at him, "Daddy got booboo?" she asked pointing to a small square band-aid on the palm of Will's left hand, right under the knuckle of his ring finger.

"It's nothing, Ari. Did you miss me?" he asked, kissing her cheek again.

Arianna giggled and wiped Will's kiss from her cheek, "Uh, huh. Where's Sonny?"

"He stopped at the bathroom, sweetie, he'll be here in a sec." he told her, turning to greet Abigail. "Hey Abi, thanks so much for watching her." Will said, kissing Abigail on the cheek, "Did everything go okay?"

"Yes, she was great, Will." Abigail replied, stroking Arianna's dark hair, which was now a little shorter than it was 10 days ago. "Just one little gum in hair issue, isn't that right, Ari?"

"I thought her hair looked different. What happened?" Will asked.

Abigail started to explain when she was interrupted. "Sonny!" Arianna screamed when she spotted Sonny making his way down the stairs. She wriggled and grunted in Will's arms."Okay, okay…" Will said, setting her down. Arianna ran to Sonny, her small voice echoing through the baggage claim, "Sonny! Sonny!"

Will and Abigail watched Sonny sit down on the floor, arms open wide as Arianna runs into them at full speed, Sonny feigning being knocked over, then picking her up and twirling her around, eliciting a fit of laughter. "I guess we know who she missed more." Will joked, laughing at the site of Arianna chasing Sonny around the waiting area.

"So did you guys have fun? How was Spain?" Abigail asked Will.

"We had a blast. Spain was fantastic, so good. We've got a ton of pictures. I'll show you all of them once I download them."

"Well you look great, Will. You're all tan and shiny."

"We spent a lot of time at the beach and in the water. Sonny showed me all the sights. I almost didn't want to come home; but big plans tomorrow." Will said sarcastically.

"I still don't get though," Abigail questioned, "Most people go on their honeymoon after the wedding, it's tradition, but no, not 'WilSon', we go a week before the wedding." she mocked.

"Yeah, well, we are hardly traditional." Will said, bumping his shoulder against Abigail's, jokingly. "And don't call us 'WilSon', we hate that."

Sonny walked over to where Abigail and Will stood, carrying Arianna in his arms. "Hey, Abi." he said, hugging her hello, "Did you guys have a good week?"

"We had a great week, didn't we munchkin." she said, tickling Arianna's belly.

"Sonny got booboo, too." Arianna tried to lift Sonny's left hand to reveal the square band-aid.

Sonny ignored her and continued talking to Abigail, "Good. I'm glad. Quick question though, Um… Why does my daughter look like Dora the Explorer?"

"There was a gum incident apparently." Will said.

"Yeah guys, sorry. She was chewing gum; I'm not even sure where she got it, she must have taken it from my purse when I wasn't looking." Abigail explained, "But then it disappeared when I told her to spit it out, next thing I knew it was in her hair. I had to cut it out, it was so bad. Then I just tried to even her hair out."

"Did you get gum from Abi's purse?" Sonny asked Arianna, who hid her face in Sonny's neck.

"Sorry" Will said, "We should've told you about that. She's been doing that lately, taking stuff she's not supposed to have. Hasn't she?"

Arianna pouted and shook her head, weeping into Sonny's shoulder. "Aww, it's okay, sweetie." Will reassured Arianna, taking her into his arms as Sonny handed her over, "Daddy's not mad." Will rubbed her back softly.

A loud bell rang through the baggage claim and the carousel started moving, spitting bags down onto the conveyer. Their suitcases were among the first ones to come out of the wall and Sonny quickly collected them in a pile. Will and Abigail walked over to Sonny, "Do you want some help with those?" Abigail asked.

"No, I got them." he replied. Sonny picked up his and Will's duffle bags, wrapping the straps around his neck and shoulder, then picked up the two additional suitcases. "Ready."

"You ready to go home, sweetie?" Will asked Arianna, she was sound asleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

Will picked up a towel out of the pile on the bed, shook out the wrinkles and folded it neatly, placing it on the stack next to him, then picked up another and yawned deeply.

"That can't wait until tomorrow?" Sonny asked, peeling off his shirt as he walked into their bedroom.

"I don't want them to wrinkle."

"God forbid I dry my junk with a wrinkled towel." he teased, pinching Will's butt.

"Are you going to be an ass the entire time we're married?"

"Probably." Sonny said, kissing Will on the cheek.

Will laughed and shook his head. "Is she asleep?"

"Yeah. She was so tired, she could barely say goodnight." Sonny scratched at the band-aid on his hand, "This thing is bugging the crap out of me, where's that gel stuff he gave us?" he asked.

"In my backpack, front pocket."

Sonny looked around the room, spotting the backpack on the chair in the corner. He opened the front pocket and fished out the small tube of antibacterial gel, then zipped the backpack shut and put it back on the chair. He slowly peeled back the band-aid on the palm of his left hand, just below his ring finger, revealing the small heart tattoo with the initials "WH" in the middle. Sonny rubbed a small dab of the gel over the tattoo, "It's not red and puffy anymore." He said, turning his hand to show Will.

Will smiled back at him as Sonny walked over and took Will's left hand in his, gingerly peeling back the band-aid. Sonny wiped Will's tattoo with his finger and kissed the small heart with "SK" in the middle, softly. "Mmm, sweaty." he winked at Will, rubbing gel into Will's hand. "I still can't believe we did this."

"Which one?" Will asked "Got married in Spain a week before our actual wedding or got tattoos to commemorate it."

"Both… _Hubby_." Sonny replied, kissing Will's lips.

Will picked the stack of folded towels off the bed and walked to the bathroom, putting them in the closet. "So, do we tell everybody? You know, before the wedding."

Sonny lay down on the bed, folding his hands behind his head. "Are you kidding me? Our moms and Abi have been planning this for like what, 6 months? Do you want to tell them we couldn't wait and eloped."

"No, I do not." Will climbed onto the bed next to Sonny, laying his head on Sonny's stomach.

Sonny reached down and rubbed Will's back gently with his fingertips. "What time do we have to be at the church tomorrow?"

"We have to be there by noon to meet the tux guy, the ceremony is at 2:00." Will said "Are you sure you have to go into the coffee house in the morning."

"Yeah, the lawyer dropped off all of Arianna's papers there for me while we were gone. I have to pick them up."

"Can't Chad just bring them to the church?"

"I just have something important to take care of before the wedding."

"What do you have to do?" Will asked, lifting his head to look up to Sonny.

"It's nothing. It won't take long."

Will laid his head back down on Sonny's stomach. "Son, please tell me you're not going to be late for your own wedding."

"I won't, I promise. Besides, I'm already married."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Daddy?" Arianna whispered at Will's face, tapping him on the nose. "Daddy?"

Will opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the morning light coming through the window, waking to his daughter grabbing his nose. "What's the matter, sweetie?" he asked in his raspy morning voice.

"I need the potty."

"Okay." Will said, throwing the covers off of his legs and getting up from the bed, "Go ahead, sweetie, I'm right behind you." He followed Arianna to the bathroom, stopping as he stepped on a pack of gum lying on the floor next to his open backpack. He walked into the bathroom as Arianna was finishing up on the training potty, carrying the pack of gum with him. "Ari, did you take some gum from Daddy's backpack?" he questioned.

"No" she said, averting her eyes from Will.

"Arianna Grace," his voice was sterner this time, "We don't lie. Did you take gum?"

"Yes." Arianna replied shyly.

"Thank you for telling Daddy the truth." Will said, picking his daughter up, walking her into the kitchen. "But you're too young for gum. Okay?" Will sat Arianna down in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Okay, Daddy."

"Where's the gum, sweetie?"

"I don't know. Can I have Cheerios?"

Will grabbed the box of Cheerios from the cabinet and a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter, turning back to the table. "What do you mean you don't know where the gum is, Ari?"

"I lost it." she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You lost it?" Will sighed, "Sweetie, that's why you can't have gum. No more gum, Okay? Promise me."

"I promise." She said, crossing her heart in an 'X'.

"Good girl." Will kissed Arianna on the head and placed a bowl in front of her, pouring in some Cheerios. "Do you want milk in your cereal?" Arianna shook her head. Will smiled as her chubby little hands shoved cereal in her mouth. He peeled the banana and cut a few slices into her bowl, and ate the rest of it himself. "Apple or orange juice, sweetie?"

"Apple, please." Arianna said, putting a fistful of banana in her mouth.

Will filled her sippy cup with apple juice and handed it to her, sitting down at the table next to her. "Please take human bites, little girl." he said, taking an exaggeratedly large bite of an apple, making a silly face at her.

Sonny shuffled down the hall to the kitchen, leaning down to kiss Arianna on the head, "Morning, Pumpkin." He leaned over and gave Will a kiss on his lips; Will's mouth was still full of apple. "Please take human bites, Sweets." he teased Will, causing Arianna to giggle.

Sonny's back was turned to them as he reached into the cabinet for a bowl. "Can I have some of your Cheerios, Sugar Butt?" he asked her.

"Uh huh." Arianna said, looking over to Sonny, his back was still to them. Will saw a look of fear take over his daughters face; she quickly climbed off of her chair and ran back to her room.

"Arianna?" Will called after her, confused.

Sonny turned around as her door slammed shut. "What was that about?"

"I don't know." Will shrugged, "She was watching you at the cabinet, then her face turned white and she ran off."

"Weird. I'm going to see if she's alright." Sonny started down the hall.

Will stood up from the table to follow Sonny when his eyes caught the cause of Arianna's freak out on the back of Sonny's head. "Crap." he exclaimed, "Honey, hold up, I know what happened."

"What?" Sonny asked, turning back to Will.

"She got into my backpack this morning and took a piece of gum. When I asked her about it, she said she lost it."

"And?"

"And… I think she just found it."

"Where?" Sonny asked, not sure of what Will was getting at.

Will sighed apologetically, "It's in your hair."

"What!" Sonny's hands flew to his hair, feeling around desperately to find the gum. "Where is it?" he whimpered, spinning around in circles trying to look at the back of his own head, his hands finding the sticky clump.

Will grabbed Sonny's shoulders to steady him, trying to suppress his laughter, and pulled Sonny's hands from his hair. "Son, stop. You're going to make it worse. Let me look at it."

"Is it bad?" he asked, panicking.

Will inspected the back of Sonny's head, sucking in air through his clenched teeth at the sight of the mess."Um… jeesh."

"Will, how bad is it?"

"It's… um…"

"Will?!" Sonny pleaded.

"It's bad, really bad."

Sonny rushed to the bathroom and fished a hand mirror from the drawer, turning to look at the back of his head in the bathroom mirror. "Oh, man! That's never coming out!" he whined, staring at the reflection of the mass of gum and hair on the back of his head. "Will, we have to be at the church in like…" Sonny glanced to the clock on the bathroom wall, "…four and half hours. What am I gonna do?"

Arianna clutched on to Will's leg, hiding behind him. She slowly leaned her head around Will, peeking into the bathroom to Sonny. "Sonny mad?" she asked sheepishly through tear filled eyes, with Will stroking her hair gently.

Sonny saw Arianna crying and glanced up to Will, who smiled back at him sympathetically. Sonny shook his head and smiled. "No, Ari. I'm not mad…" he reassured her gently, "…come here." Sonny thought about the adoption papers sitting on his desk at Common Grounds and picked up his soon to be daughter, hugging her tightly as she cried. "I love you, Pumpkin." He looked over to Will, standing in the doorway. "She's always had good timing, huh?"

Will chuckled at him. "I'll get the hair clippers."

XXXXXXXXXX

Will was sitting in the back room of the church talking to Lucas and Sami when someone rapped on the door. "Knock, Knock." Adrienne called out as she opened the door and stuck hear head in.

"Hi, guys." Will stood up to greet Sonny's parents. He hugged Adrienne and shook Justin's hand. "Come on in and have a seat. We're just waiting on the tux guy." Adrienne and Justin said their hellos to Sami and Lucas and sat down next to each other on the couch.

"Where's Sonny?" Adrienne asked Will.

"Late, I'm sure." Justin teased.

Will laughed. "No, he's not late. Not yet, at least." he said looking at his watch, it was 12:23. "The tux guy will be here at 12:30, I told Sonny he was coming at 12:00, he's still got 7 minutes."

"Smart." Justin said.

"Right? I thought so, too." Will agreed. "But anyway, he'll be here soon, he had to stop by the coffee house and pick up some papers then he said he had something important to do on the way."

"On his wedding day?" Sami asked, "What's that important?"

"I don't know, he didn't say." Will replied.

"What papers?" Adrienne questioned, just as Sonny burst in through the door in a rush.

"Hi guys." He said to the room, breathlessly. Sonny gave Will a kiss hello then looked around the room. "Where's the tux guy?"

"He's not here yet, Honey." Will said.

"He's late? How rude." Sonny said as if offended, eliciting thunderous laughter from everyone.

"Ha, Ha. Very funny." Sonny scolded them mockingly, "I get the irony, you all can shut up."

Adrienne got up and gave Sonny a hug, "Hi, sweetheart." she said, then noticed his head. "Oh my god, Sonny. What did you do to your hair?"

Sonny rubbed his hand over his freshly shaven short cropped buzz cut. "Um… Just trying something new, I guess."

"Well, I like it." Justin interjected.

"Me too." Sami agreed.

Someone knocked on the door and Lucas stood to answer it. "Yes, can I help you?" he asked the woman in on the other side.

"Hi. I'm Melissa, the Notary Public." the woman said.

"Oh...yeah, over here. Hi…" Will said jumping up from his chair, shaking her hand and introducing himself. "Will Horton. Nice to meet you"

"Melissa Rutenberg. Nice to meet you, too." she offered, shaking Will's hand.

"This is my husband Sonny." Will said, gesturing to Sonny.

Sonny shook the woman's hand, "Hi. Sonny Kiriakis. Thanks for doing this on a weekend."

"No problem, my pleasure. Are those the papers?" she asked referring to the manila envelope in Sonny's hand.

"Will someone please tell us what's going on?" Adrienne asked. "Sonny, what are those papers?"

Sonny turned to everyone, pulling the papers from the envelope. "Mom, these papers are why Will and I asked everyone to meet here before the wedding."

Will stood next to Sonny, and addressed their parents. "When we got engaged, Sonny asked me if I would be okay with him legally adopting Arianna, as co-parent; and I thought it was a great idea. I mean we're married and Arianna loves him so much." Will smiled at Sonny. "So these are the adoption and name change papers. We were hoping you four would all sign as witnesses."

"Oh, sweetie. Absolutely, we will." Adrienne said, hugging them both.

"We'd be honored." Sami added, grabbing Lucas's hand.

"Congratulations guys." Justin offered.

"Where is Arianna?" Lucas asked. "Shouldn't she be here for this?"

"She's taking a nap, she had a rough morning. We'll tell her later." Sonny said.

"What are you changing her name to?" Sami asked.

Will took Sonny's hand in his. "Arianna Grace Horton-Kiriakis", he told them. Sonny leaned over and whispered something in Will's ear. Will turned to his heed to Sonny, "Really, Son?" he asked him, "Are you sure?"

Sonny nodded."If it's okay with you, Will."

Will turned back to their parents and corrected himself. "Arianna Grace Gabriella Horton-Kiriakis."

XXXXXXXXXX

Marlena was standing behind the doors to the church hall holding Arianna's little hand, waiting for the doors to open and the processional music to start. "You look very pretty, sweetheart." she said to Arianna.

"Thank you, Gammy."

The music started softly playing and the doors opened. "Are you ready, Ari?"

"Uh Huh." Arianna smiled as all the guests in the pews turned to look back at her and Marlena.

Arianna waved and smiled to everyone as she made her way down the aisle. "Hi, Abi. Hi, Johnny. Hi, Sydney. Hi, Chad."

Marlena laughed along with the crowd at Arianna as they took their place at the front. The crowd turned back to Lucas and Sami, walking arm in arm down the aisle, beaming with pride. A tear of joy rolled down Sami's face and E.J. offered her a handkerchief from his seat as they walked by. Justin and Adrienne followed, arm in arm, Adrienne smiling and resting her head on Justin's shoulder, until they reached their places in front of the altar.

The processional music stopped and the church got quiet. Everyone stood and turned to the open doors at the back of the hall, waiting. Will and Sonny stood on opposite sides of the aisle, behind the walls next to the open doors. The sounds of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah filled the room as the Cello sang from its strings. Will and Sonny stared at each other, smiling.

"Are you ready?" Will mouthed silently to Sonny.

Sonny nodded and lifted his hand, pointing to the tattoo on his palm, mouthing back to Will. "I love you."

They stepped out from behind the walls and joined hands in the middle of the doorway as the church hall erupted into applause. Walking hand in hand down the aisle, they smiled to each other the whole way, Will's cheeks turning countless shades of pink and red. They reached the altar and nodded hello to Father Eric. The noise from the guests settled and the Cello quieted. Father Eric opened his mouth to begin to speak when Chad's voice loudly rang out over the silence, "What happened to your hair!?" Everyone turned to Chad and laughed. Father Eric put his hands up to quiet the laughter.

"Friends and family," Father Eric started, "thank you joining us today to celebrate the union of William Robert Horton and Jackson 'Sonny' Kiriakis." The crowd cheered again. Father Eric continued, "God welcomes all those with kindness and love in their hearts into his house and into his arms, and I can think of no two better examples of kindness and love than Sonny and Will. In lieu of the traditional wedding vows, Will and Sonny have written their own." Father Eric turned his attention from the guests to address Will and Sonny. "Sonny, you won the coin toss backstage," Father Eric joked, "So you go first."

Sonny laughed and turned to Lucas. Lucas hugged Sonny and handed him Will's ring. Sonny turned back to Will, taking Will's hand in his…

"Will, I left Salem in search of something… some intangible part of me that was missing. For years, I went from country to country, crossed rivers and deserts and climbed mountains searching for that missing piece, but couldn't find it. When I thought I would never find what I was looking for, I returned home to Salem. Within an hour of being home I met you, and I knew my search was over. Will, you are my heart. Your love radiates inside of me and gives me life." Sonny places the ring on Will's finger. "Will, you and Arianna have given me everything I have ever wanted and everything I never knew I wanted. I will love you until the end of my days, and all the days after."

Will wiped the tears building in his eyes and turned to Justin. Justin hugged Will tightly, then handed him Sonny's ring. Will turned back to Sonny and took Sonny's hand in his…

"Wow, that's going to be hard to beat." Will said. Sonny chuckled and the guests laughed. "Okay, here goes…" Will paused. "Sonny, you're always late." Sonny and the crowd laughed again. "You've been late to virtually everything since I've known you. You were even late for our first date. But that's okay, because I don't mind waiting. Sonny, you were my best friend and you waited for me to figure out who I was and helped me come to terms with being gay. When I came out, you waited for me to realize that my feelings for you went beyond friendship. When Gabi died and my world was dark, you waited for me again and brought me back to light, back to you. You waited for me and now it's my turn. Sonny, you are my light and I would wait a lifetime for you." Will placed Sonny's ring on his finger and held Sonny's hand to his heart. "I will love you until the end of my days, and all the days after."

Father Eric spoke up, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you… married." Will and Sonny looked up to Father Eric, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, kiss." he said.

The crowd cheered and applause echoed through the hall again as their lips met. Will and Sonny embraced each other and the world around them disappeared in their kiss. Their lips parted and they whispered I love you into each other's eyes. Arianna ran up to the altar and grabbed onto Will's leg. Will picked their daughter up and gave her a kiss. Sonny took Will's hand in his and they turned to face the guests. Father Eric spoke again, "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, for the first time ever, 'WilSon'!"

Will's, Sonny's and Arianna's heads all turned at once and they leered at Father Eric. "They don't like that." Arianna said firmly and the crowed burst into laughter.

"Sorry," Father Eric said, "Abigail made me say it."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sonny sat quietly, leaning back in his chair at the wedding table with Arianna asleep in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. His jacket hung on the back of his chair, his bowtie was hanging around his neck and his shirt was unbuttoned partway. He was exhausted, he couldn't remember the last time he was this tired. He watched the remaining people dance to the slow music as the wait staff started to clear the tables of the reception hall. He felt Will's hand on the back of his head, looking up to him as Will kissed him. "Hey, you." Sonny said.

Will's put his plate of cake down on the table and sat down set to Sonny, moving his chair close, rubbing the back of Sonny's head. "It's fuzzy." Will teased.

"It'll grow back."

"It better." Will took a bite of his cake. "Do you want some cake."

Sonny opened his mouth wide and Will fed him forkful of cake. "Mmm, good." Sonny said.

"You look tired, Honey."

"I am. It's been a long day." Sonny replied, yawning. "A good day, but long."

"So, are you going to tell me?" Will asked, taking another bite of cake.

"Tell you what?"

"This morning." Will hinted, "The big important errand you had to run?"

"It's was nothing, really not a big deal."

"I doubt that," he said leaning back in his chair, putting his arm around Sonny, Arianna still asleep in Sonny's arms. "I think it was a pretty huge deal and I'm betting it had something to do with the little girl sleeping on your shoulder and her new name." Will nodded to Arianna.

Sonny smiled and nudged Will with his shoulder, "Figured it out, did you? You know me too well, Sweets."

"Yes I do…" Will said. "…and that was an incredibly nice thing to do, Son." Will kissed him on the side of his fuzzy head, then leaned his head against Sonny's. "You know, if I weren't already married, I'd be all over you."

Will pulled himself in close to Sonny, with his arm lying across Sonny's shoulders, rubbing Arianna's sleeping head with his hand. Sonny rested his head on Will's arm and closed his eyes, thinking back to earlier that day…

"Um… Hi." Sonny said, staring down at the patch of thick green grass scattered with flowers. "It's been a while, huh?" He shuffled his feet nervously, looking around at the trees and sunshine, trying to find the words to express himself. "It's a beautiful day. Perfect day to get married, I guess." he joked. "I wish you could have been here for it." Sonny suddenly remembered the flowers he was holding, "Oh, these are for you." He said, laying them gently down in the grass in front of Gabi's headstone. "It's been a long time since I gave a girl flowers." he chuckled to himself. Sonny sat down in the grass, crossing his legs, and started fiddling with the blades of grass underneath him. "I not sure what to say to you, Gabi. I was just so angry with you…and I know it wasn't your idea to lie about the baby, but…" Sonny wipes a tear from his cheek, "I miss you, Gabi… and I know that sounds odd considering the way I treated you toward the end….but I do. Will does too, he doesn't walk about it much, but sometimes I catch him looking at Ari a certain way and I can just tell that he's thinking about you." He sniffled, shifting his legs beneath him. "You can't really help it though, she looks just like you; it's crazy how much so…" he smiled, "…except for the nose. She's got Will's nose. I wish you could see him, Gabi, he's so good with her." Sonny wiped another tear from his cheek. "I love them so much, Gabi… and after today we will be a real family." Sonny stood up and brushed the grass off of his jeans. "I just wanted you to know that. I wanted to tell you I love them, and I will take care of them, so you never have to worry… ever."

Sonny closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun as a strong cool breeze filled the air around him, soothing him. He looked at his watch; 12:10. "Uh oh, I told him I wouldn't be late today. I guess I better go." Sonny crouched down in front of her headstone. "I promise you, when she's old enough, we will tell her everything about you. She will always know what a beautiful and generous person her mother was." Sonny stood up, "Okay, I need to get going, I'm already late. Big day today." he said, placing his hand on the top of the headstone. "Thank you, Gabi. Thank you for my family."


	4. Chapter 4

**FRACTURES - PART 1 **

Will and Arianna walked through the town square heading around to the back of St. Luke's Catholic Church, across from the duck pond, "I thought you said that Dad was meeting us for lunch." Arianna said to Will, her eyes and thumbs never leaving her phone.

"He is. He got caught up at work." Will told her. "Ari, can you please stop texting for 5 minutes."

"Sorry, Daddy." She put her phone into her pocket. "Should we wait for him, or can we order?"

"We can order, he won't be long." Will pulled his phone from his jacket pocket as it rang and read the display. "It's work, sweetie, I need to take this. You go order and I'll catch up." he told her, then answered the phone call from his assistant, "Hey, Margie. What's up?"

"Okay, Daddy." Arianna said and headed over to Goombah's. "Hi, Angelo." She called to the pizza maker, walking up to the Dutch door he was leaning on.

Goombah lifted his head from the US Weekly magazine he was reading to greet her, "Arianna Grace!" his voice was musical as he said her name. He opened the Dutch door and stepped out to give Arianna a big hug and a kiss her on the cheek. "How's my favorite girl?"

"I'm really well, thanks." She said hugging him back.

Goombah stepped back into the pizza shop and shut the door. "School is good?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I made honors list again this semester."

"Good for you. You get the brains from your papa. He was a smart kid too." Goombah said, tying his apron on. "You want the usual?"

'Yes, please."

"You got it, sweetheart. 11 minutes, okay?"

"Thanks, Angelo."

Sonny rounded the corner of the church and headed over toward where he noticed Arianna sitting at the table by the duck pond. "Hey, Pumpkin." he said, leaning down to kiss her on her head. "Where's your Daddy?"

"He's talking to Margie." Arianna's face was buried in her phone as she motioned over to where Will was standing, still talking on the phone with his assistant.

"Did you order?" he asked her.

Arianna mumbled something barely audible back to Sonny, "Mmhmm.", her eyes and thumbs busy with her phone.

"Ari, put the phone away, please."

"Sorry, Dad." She quickly finished her text, and sat her phone down on the table. "Yes, I ordered. Do you want me to go get some drinks?"

"Sure." Sonny pulled some cash from his pocket and handed it to her. "Get me a bottle of water and your Daddy an Iced Tea, and whatever you want."

"Okay, I'll be back in a sec."

Will walked up to the table with the pizza in his hand, just as Arianna headed to the corner store for the drinks. "Okay, great. Tell him the 18th is fine. Thanks, Margie." Will hung up his phone and put it back in his jacket pocket. "Hi, Honey." he said, giving Sonny a peck on the lips. "Where's Ari going?"

"She's getting us drinks." Sonny patted the space on the bench next to him, inviting Will to sit. "What did Margie want? Wait, let me guess. You don't have time for lunch… again. You have to go back to the office."

"No, smart ass, she scheduled a meeting next month and wanted to let me know." Will set the pizza down on the table and sat down next to Sonny.

"A month in advance? You work too hard."

"Yeah, it's been a long couple years, but I think it might pay of soon." Will replied, "Get this, some Swedish company might want to buy my software designer. The president of the company will be in town next month for a couple days only, he asked for demonstration of the software and quote for multiple user licenses."

"Really! That's great, Sweets. How many licenses?"

"I don't know yet, but Margie says they're a big company…" Will took a bite of his pizza, finishing his sentence with his mouth full. "…and we could use the money, plus it's good exposure for HortonTech."

"Well, you've spent 6 years of long days and nights working on that software and building your company to what it is, so you deserve all the exposure you get." Sonny gave Will kiss on the cheek, "I'm proud of you, and it will be nice to have you around more."

"Thanks, Honey. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, it's just one meeting."

"I hate when you do that, Will. You need to think positive." Sonny chided him, "Think about what you did. You left a six figure programming job to start your own company. You single handedly re-designed the software that programmers use to _design software_! It's pretty impressive."

"I am pretty smart, aren't I?" Will smiled at Sonny and put his arm around him. "Seriously though, Son, thank you for being so supportive these last years. I'm well aware that it hasn't been easy on you and Ari with me working so much and I know it's caused some tension between us, but I…" Will's voice quieted.

"I know, Sweets, I love you, too. And I'm always behind you." Sonny nudged Will on the shoulder, "Plus if you're home more, then I can be _behind _you more, if you know what I mean." Sonny leaned over and kissed him again. Will let out a soft moan as the kiss deepened, moving his hand to the back of Sonny's neck, pulling him closer.

"Gross, you guys, we're in public." Arianna set the drinks on the table and sat down across from them.

"Sorry." they said is unison, as Arianna took a bite of her slice of pizza and turned all her attention back to her phone.

Will watched Arianna texting away on her phone, turning to Sonny to roll his eyes at her, "Ari, why has your face been buried in your phone all day? What is so important? Who are you texting?" he asked her. Arianna kept texting. "Hey," Will said, grabbing her phone. "What's going on?"

Arianna grunted and reached for her phone. Will held it above his head, "Uh Uh, not until you tell us what's up."

"Spill it." Sonny chimed in.

Arianna let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to freak out."

Sonny laughed sarcastically, "No, we can't promise that. You could say something that is completely freak out worthy, and we might be compelled freak the heck out, but because we promised, we wouldn't be allowed to freak out…"

Will covered Sonny's mouth with his palm, shutting him up. "We promise." He told her.

She craned her neck to Sonny, "Dad?"

Sonny pulled Will's hand from his mouth. "Okay. I promise."

"I've been texting a boy from school. He uh… he asked me out on a… a date." Arianna confessed. They sat there silently, staring at her blankly. Arianna waited for several minutes, "Guys?" she waved her hand in front of their eyes "Helllooo?"

Will shook his head from his haze, "Sorry, sweetie. A date huh?"

"But you're only fourteen." Sonny let out.

"Fourteen year olds go on dates, Dad."

"A date huh?" Will mumbled again, his face white with confusion.

"Fourteen year olds date?" Sonny asked with amazement.

"Yes, Dad."

"Huh?" Will mumbled aloud again, "…a date."

"Are you okay, Daddy? You look like you're going to faint." Arianna opened the bottle of iced tea in front of Will and placed it in his hand. "Here, drink some tea."

"Yeah… tea. I like tea…" Will said absentmindedly. "mmmm, cold…"

"Since when do fourteen year olds date?"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. You guys are being totally weird." she said grabbing her phone from Will's hand and shoving it back in her pocket.

"We're sorry, Sweetie." Will reassured her, taking a big drink from his iced tea. "Ari, you just caught us off guard."

"Yeah, we're sorry, Pumpkin." Sonny agreed. "So… who is this boy? Do we know him?"

"His name is Dylan, he's in my Algebra class. He's really nice."

"Okay, so where are you going on this… date?" Will asked.

"We're going to get something to eat at the diner and then go see a movie at the theatre in the town square. Can I go?"

"How are you getting there, who's taking you?"

"Nobody, I'm going meet him at the diner, I can walk from home."

Will and Sonny looked at each other, somewhat confused as to what to say. "What do you think?" Will asked him.

"Um…" he mumbled.

"Please, Dad?" Arianna pleaded.

"Okay… You can go, but…"

"Yes! Thank you."

"Wait, I'm not done." Sonny said "You can go, but he has to come to the house to pick you up. We have to meet him first, that's the deal. Right Will?"

"Right." Will agreed. "We get to meet him first."

"And you tell us which movie, what time you're going and when you'll be home, got it?" Sonny added.

"Okay, that's fair." Arianna conceded.

"And he brings us two forms of picture ID." Will interjected.

"Daddy!"

"Okay, fine. Just one ID."

"Thank you, thank you. You'll like him, I promise." Arianna got up from the bench and ran around to the other side of the table to give her father's each a hug and kiss. "I'm going to go tell Angelo goodbye and text Dylan." She said, skipping off across the street.

"I want to see his report card, too!" Will called after her.

"It's here, Will." Sonny stated, shaking his head in doubt, "The day we've been dreading. It's here, and its name is _Dylan_. I'm pretty sure I already hate him."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Will sat in his car in the driveway out in front of the house staring in disbelief at the offer on the piece of paper in front of him. "Holy shit." He said out loud to himself, counting the number of zeroes again. It was more money than he had ever seen, or ever dreamt of really. The meeting was supposed to be a simple demonstration of his software, but the Swedes were impressed, very impressed…

"You want to buy my company?"

"Not exactly, Mr. Horton. We want to purchase the rights to your program and any patents associated with it. HortonTech will remain yours."

Will sat behind his desk, somewhat taken aback by the offer in front of him, he had read several articles on the man standing in his office. Mats Ellis was a shrewd business man and a respected participant in the tech industry. Will knew he would not make an offer such as he has unless it was sincere and worthy of his important time.

"Well, do we have a deal?" Mats asked.

Will stood up from his seat and walked out from behind his desk. "I'll tell you what, let me talk it over with my family and I will get back to you shortly. Would that be alright?"

"Absolutely, take your time, talk with your family. I look forward to hearing from you." Mats stood and offered his hand to Will.

Will shook his hand and escorted him to the door of the office, "It was great meeting you Mr. Ellis, I will talk to you soon."

Will put the offer letter back in the envelope and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket. He grabbed his bag from the passenger seat and opened his door, stepping out of the car. He started up the walk as the front door opened and Dylan, Arianna's boyfriend of the past month, came scrambling down the stairs past Will. "Dylan?"

"Hi, Mr. Horton. Bye, Mr. Horton." Dylan said, jumping on his bike and rushing off.

Will watched in confusion as Dylan hurried away then he started back up the stairs. He turned the knob and opened the front door, "You guys are not going to believe the news…" Will stopped at the front door as Arianna stormed past him with Sonny just behind her, yelling.

"Don't you walk away from me, Arianna Grace! We're not done with this!" Sonny said angrily.

"I don't have to listen to you, you're not my father!" she screamed back at him, stomping down the hall and slamming shut the door to her bedroom.

"Like hell I'm not! I have a piece of paper to prove it!" Sonny tried turning the doorknob to no avail. "Open this door, right now!" he yelled through the locked door.

"No! Go away!" she screamed back, turning her music up to drown Sonny out.

Sonny kicked the door in frustration and turned, heading back down the hall. "God damned it!" he bit out into the air. He stopped suddenly when he noticed Will standing in the front door with a baffled look on his face. "And where the hell have you been?" Sonny barked at him.

"I had the meeting with Ellis this morning, remember? We talked about it last night." Will shut the door and dropped his bag on the small bench in the foyer. "What is going on in here? Why is she so upset?"

"Why is _she_ upset?!"

"Okay, why are you both upset? And why was Dylan running for his life out of here?"

Sonny's eyes were wide and furious, "That kid better run!"

"Son, please calm down." Will pulled Sonny into the kitchen. "Tell me what happened."

Sonny paced around the kitchen with his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. "I came home from work for lunch and I caught Ari and that little shithead Dylan making out on the couch!"

"Making out?" Will asked.

"Kissing, Will." He explained, pausing for a reaction.

Will stood there blankly trying to suppress a smile. "Oh no, not kissing." He said sarcastically.

"This is funny to you?" Sonny was getting angrier, "Our daughter alone in a dark house with a boy is funny to you?"

"No, sorry, it's not funny. But, Honey, come on don't you think your overreacting a little?"

"Don't 'Honey' me, Will, I'm serious about this. We have rules in this house and she knows Dylan is not allowed to be here when were not home. Yeah, this time is was just kissing, but what about next time? Do you really trust that kid?"

"Dylan's a good kid, Sonny, you know that. Besides, I trust Arianna, we've had the talk with her, and she's a smart girl."

"We?" Sonny said pointedly. "I'm the one thathad the talk with her, I'm the one that makes her do her homework, I'm the one that has to harp on her to do her chores, I'm the one who's unfair and horrible because I yell when I catch her and her boyfriend on the couch in the dark! I'm sick of being the bad guy."

Will looked at him in disbelief, "Son, where's all this coming from? Why have you never told me that that's how you feel?" Will pulled a chair from kitchen table and offered it to Sonny, "Sit down, let's talk about this."

"I don't want to sit, Will." Sonny kicked the chair forcefully, sliding it back under the table. "What I want is to not be the only one raising our daughter!" he shouted.

"What the hell does mean?" Will snapped back at him.

Sonny stood silently staring at Will and saw the hurt and confusion fill in his blue eyes. He regretted his words as soon as they escaped his lips. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out with a loud sigh, running his hand through his hair. "You know what… nothing, I'm sorry."

Will reached out for him, "Sonny, talk to me."

"Um... I need to get back to the coffee shop." Sonny said, avoiding Will's touch. "Can you go talk to her? Just make sure she's okay, please?" he asked, grabbing his jacket and keys and heading to the front door.

"Yeah, sure." Will replied softly, "Sonny…"

"We'll talk later. I just… I just need to clear my head, okay?" Sonny walked out, letting the door shut behind him.

Will stood in the hall staring at the closed door in front of him trying to figure out what had just happened. A wave of insecurity like he has not felt in years seeped into his bones. "What just happened?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Will knocked on Arianna's door, "Ari? It's me, open up."

Arianna opened the door and walked back to her bed silently, sitting back down against the headboard with her legs crossed underneath her.

He stepped in and looked around the room, noticing posters on the wall and pictures of Arianna and her friends that he had not seen before. Trophies and awards he couldn't remember. He suddenly couldn't think of the last time he was in his daughter's room. "Mind if I sit down?" he asked her, pointing to the space in front of her on the bed.

"No." she replied shyly with her head down, covered by the hood of her sweatshirt.

Will picked up some pillows off the bed and threw them on the chair, and sat down. He placed his hand on her knee, "Ari, sweetie, look at me." he said reassuringly. Arianna pulled the hood off and lifted her head to Will. He frowned when he saw her tear stained cheeks. "Are you okay?" Arianna nodded at Will, sniffling. "Do you want to tell me what happened with you and Dad?"

"Dylan and I were just kissing, I swear, but Dad went crazy, he got so mad." she told him.

"Why was Dylan here in the first place? You know he's not supposed to be here when we're not home."

"He wasn't in school yesterday; he just came by to get the Algebra assignment."

Will looked at her knowingly, "Come on, Ari. You couldn't just tell him that over the phone or text him? At the least you could have waited until your Dad or I was home."

Arianna nodded again, "I guess." She scooted to the edge of bed next to Will, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. Will put his arms around her and pulled her close as she started to cry.

"He hates me." Her voice was quiet.

"Who, Dylan? He'll be fine, I'll talk to him if you want."

"Not Dylan. Dad hates me."

"Hah, are you kidding me?" Will chuckled to her, "Dad does not hate you, far from it. You're the best thing that ever happened to him. He loves you more than you could ever know." Will gently pulled Arianna's head from his chest and smiled at her, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Did I ever tell you about the first time he met you?"

Arianna shook her head, "No" she said softly, resting her head again on Wills chest.

Will wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her back in close. "You were about two months old. You're dad and I had just had a big fight, totally my fault by the way, and we hadn't talked to each other in a few months; again, totally my fault. I was a new dad and you're mom had just died…" Will's voice cracked as he mentioned Gabi. "Anyway, I was scared out of my mind. I wanted to call him so bad, but I just didn't know what to say. One night he just showed up at my door, and he was mad, I mean mad. He screamed at me for not talking to him, cussed me out for not letting him help me, he was mad. He forced me to talk to him until we worked things out, finally, and I was so happy. The happiest days of my life are the day you were born and that day, two months later when I saw him holding you. Your Dad and I were… um… getting reacquainted… when you started crying. I got up and he followed me into your room and watched me change you and put you back in your crib. He stayed in there when I went to get you a bottle… I don't know what he said to you, but… all I heard was you laughing and him laughing back at you… God, I loved that sound." Will wiped the beginning of a tear from his eye. "When I came back in he was just sitting there, staring down at you in his arms. You kept reaching up for his chin… and the look on his face…" Will smiled wide thinking of the memory of Sonny that night holding Arianna for the first time.

Will kissed her on her head. "He loves you so much. He just wants to keep you safe, sweetie, he's always going to protect you. But believe me, that's a hard thing to do when you're just growing up so fast. Sometimes he feels like… we feel like… you don't need us anymore."

"I'm only fourteen, Daddy."

"Yeah, I know." Will sighed, "But in a few years you'll be graduating from high school and then off to college..." Will looked around her room again at all the things he had never seen, and his voice cracked again with regret, finishing his sentence in a whisper to himself. "…and all I've done for six years is work."

Arianna looked up to Will, "Are you okay, Daddy."

Will wiped his eyes again. "Yeah, I'm fine sweetie." He stood up from the bed, "Tell you what, why don't you go wash your face and we'll go get some dinner? I'm going to go call your Dad and ask him to join us. Sound like a plan?"

She got up and wrapped her arms around Will, hugging him tightly. "I love you, Daddy."

Will choked back a sob, "I love you too, Sweetie. Now go get cleaned up."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Sonny wiped the front counter of the off after the small rush of customers finished up. "Are you good by yourself for a little bit, Lauren? I've got some paperwork to finish up before I leave."

"Sure thing." Lauren replied.

"Great. Call me if you need help." He grabbed his clipboard and headed to the back office. Sonny pulled his phone from his pocket and saw that he had a missed a call from Will. He'd been going over in his head all afternoon what he was going to say when he apologized. Sonny took a deep breath, and called Will back.

Will was sitting in dark on the edge of the tub in his and Sonny's bathroom with his head in his hands, when the phone on the counter started buzzing. Will picked it up pressed 'answer', then put the phone to his ear.

Sonny heard Will pick up and could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone, but Will didn't speak. "Will?" He still didn't answer, just breathing on the other end. "Will, is everything okay?"

"You were right." Will said quietly, his voice low.

"Right about what?" Sonny questioned.

"You do it all. I don't know how I never saw it. I'm so sorry, Sonny."

"No, Will. You were right, I overreacted. I shouldn't have said that. You're a great father."

"Son, I feel like I don't even know her anymore. I don't know who her friends are or what her favorite subject in school is." Will sniffled and wiped his eyes with the backs of his sleeve. "I've missed years of her life… our life. How did I not see it?"

"Will, it's not that bad. You missed a couple spelling bees, so what. You're there every night, every weekend. You're being too hard on yourself."

"Even when I'm at home with you guys, my face is always buried in my computer. It's not fair to you or Arianna. I can't be that guy anymore, Sonny."

"I don't know what that means, Will." He told him. Will was silent again on the other end of the phone.

"It means I need a change, Honey." Will said. "Listen, Arianna and I are going to the pub for dinner, why don't you come and meet us..." Will pulled the envelope with Ellis's offer in it from his jacket pocket, "…I have some news to tell you."

"What news?"

"You'll have to come to dinner if you want to know."

"I have to finish some stuff here first, give me about an hour, okay?"

"Sure, Honey. Ari and I will meet you at the pub in an hour."

"Is Ari alright? Does she hate me?" Sonny asked.

"What is it with you two? She asked me the same thing about you. Of course she doesn't hate you, Son. She adores you. You just embarrassed her in front of Dylan, she'll get over it. You can talk to her tonight."

"Tell her I love her for me?"

"I will. We'll see you in an hour. Call me when you're on the way, okay?"

"Sure thing, Sweets. Bye."

"Bye, Son."

"Wait! Will? You still there?"

"I'm here."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Honey, so much. I'll see you in a bit."

An hour and fifteen minutes later Sonny was finishing up at the coffee shop. He slipped his jacket on and walked out to the front. "I'm taking off, Lauren. I'll see you tomorrow. Call me if you have any problems closing."

"Will do, Sonny. Have a good night." Lauren called to him as he walked out the door.

Sonny zipped up his jacket, taking his phone from his pocket to call Will and let him know he was on the way. He pressed Will's number and stepped out into the street.

Will and Arianna sat in the corner table of the pub waiting on Sonny. "Do you know what you want? He asked her.

"Probably the chicken wrap." she said. "That way I'll still have room for desert. Dad and I always split a piece of red velvet cake."

"He does love red velvet cake." Will agreed.

Arianna glanced down at her watch. "Why is he always late?" she asked Will.

Will laughed. "Sweetie, I've been asking that question for almost sixteen years. Some things will always be a mystery." The two of them laughed as Will's phone rang, "His ears must be burning." He said reaching for his phone. He picked the phone off the table but didn't recognize the number.

"Is it Dad?" Arianna asked.

He shook his head no to her, "Hello?" Will said, answering his phone. "Yes, this is Will Horton." Will stood up abruptly, and walked away from the table. "What!?"

Arianna sat at the table watching as Will talked on the phone and noticed his demeanor change. She couldn't make out what he was saying but could tell he was upset. He hung the phone up and turned back to her. Will's face was pale with fear and tears rolled down his cheeks. She started cry as soon as she saw him. Will walked back over to the table "Ari, Sweetie, Um…"

"What happened?" She asked through her sobs, "Where's Dad?"

"Sweetie… there's been an accident."

…_end of part 1…_


	5. Chapter 5

**FRACTURES – PART 2**

_Will awoke on the hard wet ground, staring up into darkness and fog. He struggled to his feet with a moan and cradled his aching head in his hands, looking around him at the emptiness of the forest. In all directions there was nothing but shadows and silence._

"_Where are you?" he called out to the night._

_His surroundings were familiar to him, but he could not remember why. The sound of the gravel path beneath his feet broke the silence as he stumbled into the quiet. Some distance ahead of him a blinking orange light reflected off the fog. The closer he got to the light, the brighter it got. He stopped in the path as he came upon the source. In the brush off of the path sat the wreckage of a car, the right tire was flat and a large dent scarred the metal of the hood. The windshield was crushed into a spider web of broken glass strewn with pieces of cloth and blood, the turn signal blinking into the fog._

"_Where are you?" Will shouted again franticly, searching the darkness._

_He heard the gravel crunch in the path behind him, turning quickly when a large shadowed figure appeared, approaching him. Will's heart beat faster as the deer limped through a break in the fog. The orange glow from the car illuminated the deer as it drew closer and Will saw the mangled front leg of the buck as it collapsed in the path. He rushed over to deer, stopping abruptly as the buck turned its antlers to Will in defense._

"_Shhh..." Will gently said to the deer, "…easy." He approached the buck slowly, noticing another gash in the deer's hind leg. The wound was large and open, bleeding profusely. "Jesus." Will cried to himself with distress, the blood pooling on the ground where the deer lay. Will inched closer, staring into its dark brown eyes. The frightened buck lunged his antlers toward Will again with the last amount of energy it had left then laid his head on the cold ground as the strength drained from its body._

"_No." Will pleaded to the deer through his tears, staring again into its eyes. _

_The buck's breathing became harder and staggered as it huffed in and out… then stopped._

"Son!" Will gasped aloud as he was jolted from his dream.

"Are you okay?" came a voice from across the empty waiting room.

"What? Yeah…I'm fine… thanks." Will replied to the woman, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Bad dream." He looked down to Arianna, asleep in the row of chairs with her head resting in Will's lap. He brushed her hair behind her ear and gently rubbed her back, finding some needed comfort in the rise and fall of her body as she breathed.

Will turned his head to the doorway when he heard footsteps in the hall. He shook Arianna's shoulder as the doctor opened the door. "Ari? Wake up, sweetie." She opened her eyes and sat up quickly when she saw the doctor. "Is my dad okay?" she asked him, unable to hide the desperation in her voice. Will and Arianna got up from their seats as the doctor approached them.

The doctor smiled at Arianna sympathetically then looked to Will, silently asking for permission to talk in front of her. "It's okay." Will told him, wrapping his arm around his daughter and pulling her close.

"Mr. Horton," the doctor began, "the car that hit your husband…"

"Sonny" Will interrupted, "His name is Sonny."

"Of course." he continued "The car that hit Sonny did a lot of damage, he is very lucky to be alive. His right leg is broken in two places just above the ankle and his right shoulder was dislocated. We were able to put the shoulder back in but there is a considerable amount of inflammation in the tissue surrounding the socket. We won't be able to tell if there is any additional damage until it goes down. We put a temporary cast on his leg to stabilize it until the swelling goes down, but in order for it to heal properly he will need surgery to put two pins in the bone. We can schedule that over the next couple days."

Arianna dug her face into Will's chest and began to cry. "It's going to be okay, Sweetie." Will rubbed her back and reassured her. "Is that all?" he asked the doctor.

"Well, he is pretty bruised up and has numerous lacerations on his arms and face from the glass, but luckily there does not seem to be any internal damage. It'll be tough for him to move around for a couple months and he'll need physical therapy for the leg and shoulder, but… he should be fine."

Will let out a sigh of relief and hugged Arianna closer. "You see that, Sweetie. Dad's going to be fine." He shook the doctor's hand and thanked him. "Can we see him?"

"Sure, although we gave him something pretty strong for the pain so he'll be out for the next couple hours. They're putting him in room 307." He told them.

"Thank you." Will said, shaking the doctor's hand again.

"Sure thing." he replied and smiled at Arianna "You take good care of your dad, okay?"

Arianna nodded at the doctor, turning to Will. "Can we go see him now?"

"You go ahead, sweetie, I'm going to call Grandma Adrienne and let her know what happened. I'll be right behind you, okay?"

Will waited until Arianna was down the hall, then pulled his phone from his pocket and made his call. "Mr. Ellis? It's Will Horton... Yes, I know it's late. I'm sorry about that, but I didn't want this to wait. It's about your offer… I um… I have an answer for you."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Will's eyes never left Sonny as the nurse checked his vitals. "When will he wake up? The doctor said he would be out a couple of hours, it's been five and half."

"People respond differently to the sedatives, it could be anytime. His pulse and blood pressure are fine though." She replied as she finished up. "Can I get you anything, Mr. Horton?"

"No, thank you."

"Just press the call button if you change your mind." The nurse said closing the door behind her.

Will readjusted the blanket covering Sonny and tucked it in securely. Picking up Sonny's hand in his, he sat back down on the side of the hospital bed. His heart sunk as he looked at Sonny. His right arm and shoulder were wrapped in a sling, held close to his body; his right leg encased in sheath of new rubber and plastic. A pattern of fresh scrapes covered his arms and face, broken up by black and purple bruises with the odd tiny sliver of windshield imbedded under his skin. He turned Sonny's hand palm up in his and traced the heart shaped tattoo with his initials in it with his finger. Will's head sunk in grief and a tear escaped his eye, landing on Sonny's tattoo. "What would I do without you?" he whispered, and began to cry.

Will sat there weeping in the quiet darkness of the hospital room, caressing Sonny's hand. "Don't cry." he heard in a hoarse whisper, as Sonny gently closed his hand around Will's.

"Son… oh thank god. You had me so worried." Will wiped the tears from his face.

Sonny groaned, trying to sit up in the bed. "Water…"

Will quickly got up and poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the table, handing it to Sonny. "Drink it slow, Honey." He took several sips from the water and gave the glass back to Will, groaning again at his every movement.

"Are you in pain?" Will grabbed the morphine drip button and put it Sonny's hand "Here, the nurse said to press this when you're in pain."

Sonny pressed the button, wincing and groaning again while shifting in the bed. "What happened?" his voice was low and still hoarse.

"You don't remember?" Will asked with concern.

"Just bits and pieces, I remember hearing a screeching sound…" Sonny winced again, trying to push himself up in the bed. "…then coming to on the ground with paramedics around me."

"You were hit by a car." Will put his hand on Sonny's shoulder trying to keep him still, "Son, please stop moving, let the morphine kick in."

"I want to sit up." Sonny groaned again, defiantly trying to push himself up.

Will pressed the button to raise the back of the hospital bed and put a pillow behind Sonny, helping him ease back against the bed. "Is that better?"

Sonny rested his head against the back of the bed, lifting his arm up to examine all the scrapes and bruises, then reached up to rub his shoulder over the sling. "How bad is it?"

"You dislocated your shoulder and broke your leg, they're going to have to put pins in the bone so it will heal properly, but the good news is that there is no internal damage. The doctor said you were very lucky." Will sat back down on the side of the bed and gently rubbed Sonny's chest.

"I don't feel lucky." He rested his head on the pillow and looked to Will, sighing heavily as he laid his hand on top Will's. "Will, about yesterday…"

"Sonny, stop." he pulled Sonny's hand to his lips and kissed it. "We don't need to talk about it anymore. Arianna's fine, I'm fine, it's forgotten. We need to focus on getting you better. That's the priority."

"Thank you." Sonny smiled back to Will adoringly, squeezing his hand. "Where is Ari?"

"I asked your mom to come pick her up. It was getting late and you were still asleep. She's going to bring her back in the morning."

Sonny grunted again and wriggled in the bed with a look of discomfort.

"Are you okay? Are you in pain again?" Will asked.

"I'm just itchy, my face feels all sticky."

"There's still some dried blood and dirt from the accident. Here, let me." Will walked in the bathroom and returned with a washcloth and a basin of warm water. He wet the cloth and gingerly cleaned Sonny's face. "You have a big cut on your forehead, this might sting a little." Will said softly as he cautiously wiped over the cut, pausing as a glint of light reflected from Sonny's matted hair, catching his eye. Will rinsed the washcloth in the basin and shuttered to himself as the water reddened from the blood, Sonny's blood. He stood motionless, staring at his stained hands.

Sonny saw the distress on Will's face. "You okay?"

"Um…you've got glass in your hair." his voice cracked as he spoke.

"That's okay, Will, it'll come out when I take a shower." Sonny reassured him.

"Yeah… but… Sonny, there's glass in your hair." Will voice cracked again as a sob escaped his lips, the enormity of the accident suddenly hitting him.

"Will, I'm okay." Sonny reached for Will with his good arm.

"But what if you weren't, Son, I don't… I don't know what I would do."

"Come here." Sonny pulled Will to him. Will carefully laid down next to him on the bed, resting his head on Sonny's chest. Sonny draped his arm over Will's shoulder, letting out a soft groan.

"Am I hurting you?" Will asked. "I'm getting up."

"Don't you dare, Sweets." Sonny held him tight to his body and kissed him on the head. "I'm never letting you go."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Does it hurt?" Arianna asked Sonny, knocking softly on the new cast on his leg.

'No, it's a lot better than the plastic thing that was on there. The foot doesn't move around as much."

"Can you feel the pins in the bone?"

"No, Pumpkin." Sonny groaned in defeat, struggling to pull his shirt on over his head. "Can you give me hand, Ari?"

Arianna slowly slid the sleeve of the shirt over Sonny's right arm, making sure not to bend the shoulder too much, then she guided her dad thru the neck and other sleeve. She straightened the shirt and tucked neck tag back in. "There you go." Arianna picked up the sling and undid all the Velcro straps, looking at it quizzically. "How does this go on?"

"I don't need that thing." He told her, hopping on one foot back to the bed.

"Dad, the doctor said you have to wear it for six weeks."

"It's annoying, Ari. I don't want it."

"But Dad…"

"Fine," Sonny sighed with exasperation. "I'll put it on later. Just put it with my stuff. Pumpkin, will you go down to the cafeteria and get me some coffee?"

"Sure." Arianna gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be back in a minute."

"Two Cream, one sugar." He reminded her.

"I know, Dad."

Will walked back in carrying Sonny's paperwork as she was leaving, "Where you going?"

"Grumpy wants coffee." She told him, pointing to Sonny.

"Get me some too, please. Black." Will called after her.

"I know, Daddy."

Will turned to Sonny as he entered the room. "Grumpy?"

"I'm sorry. I just want to get the hell out of here."

"Well, it shouldn't be long now. We just have to wait on the doctor to sign off on your discharge." He said handing the paperwork to him.

"What's all this?" Sonny asked.

"It's all your insurance and discharge papers, plus the post op instructions." Will told him, eyeing the sling on the chair next to Sonny's bag. Will picked the sling up and showed it to Sonny. "This is supposed to be on you."

Sonny rolled his eyes and huffed at him. "I'll be careful, Will. I don't need to wear it."

"I'm sorry, Sonny. Did you graduate from medical school and I missed it or something?" Will scolded him.

"Will, come on."

"I'm not asking, Sonny." Will told him.

"Fine." he resigned with another exasperated sigh, and let Will wrap the sling back on him.

"Good boy." Will teased, kissing him on the forehead.

Sonny flipped through all the paperwork, absorbing what the next few months would entail. "Jeez, Will, this is going to tough. I can't work for at least four months. I can't drive and I have physical therapy three times a week after the cast comes off."

"Yeah I know, Honey, but we can do it."

"We're going to need help, though. Listen…" Sonny started, "…and hear me out before you say anything, but I was thinking we could ask my mom to stay with us for a while."

"No, absolutely not."

"Damn it, Will, we need help. I'm going to be in this stupid cast for eight weeks, plus a couple months of physical therapy. You can't take four months off work to take care of me and drive me back and forth."

"That's exactly what I intend to do."

"Really, and what about this?" Sonny held the hospital bill up to Will. "Our insurance will only cover a portion of this. How are we going to pay for a giant hospital bill with neither one of us working?"

"I've got the money taken care of, Son. It won't be a problem." Will walked over to the front of the room and picked his jacket up off the chair.

"How, did we win the lottery when I was asleep?" Sonny asked sarcastically.

"Something like that." Will told him, reaching into his jacket pocket. "I sold my software."

"That's great Will, but you would have to sell hundreds of user licenses just to cover this bill alone. What about all the bills for physical therapy, not to mention electricity, water, the mortgage..."

"No, Honey, you're not getting me. I sold the _rights _to my software, the patents… everything."

"You what?!" Sonny grabbed his hair in his fist in frustration at the news, "How could you do that? You worked so hard on that Will, for so long… and now it's just gone…"

Will smiled as Sonny ranted at him, casually pulling the envelope from the jacket pocket. He removed the offer letter from the envelope and slowly unfolded it as Sonny raged on.

"…six years of your life into that program and you just sell it, seriously? What were you thinking…"

Will kept smiling wide at him, nonchalantly handing over the offer letter to a raving Sonny.

"… and why the hell are you smiling like that?" Sonny snatched the letter from Will's hand angrily, continuing his rant before reading what was just given him. "You need to call them and tell them you changed your mind, say you had a change of… hoollleey crap that's a lot of zeroes." Sonny's eyes got huge as he read the offer amount. "Is this for real?" He asked with a big smile.

Will nodded, smiling back him. "Oh yeah, Honey, it's real!"

"Holy crap!"

"I know, right?" Will sat down on the side of the bed.

"$25 Million dollars." He shook his head in amazement, "Good god, Will."

"He offered me a job too, but I turned him down."

"Why?"

"Because of what I said the other day, Son, that I need a change. I don't want to miss anymore of her life. I want to be there when she comes home from school, I want to make her do her chores. I want to be the one she yells at when she's mad."

"Well, she's a teenager so I'm pretty sure that one can be arranged." Sonny teased him.

Will laughed, "Seriously honey, we only have a few years left before college and I don't want to waste them. I want to spend time together as a family while we can."

"What do want to do?"

"We can do whatever we want, Sonny. I was thinking we could travel every summer, go to the places we always talked about. Ireland, Australia, Hawaii… we can go anywhere, together." Will kissed the back of Sonny's hand. "Where do you want to go, Honey? Anywhere in the world, where do you want to take her?"

"Anywhere?"

"Yes, anywhere."

Sonny smiled and curled his finger at Will, motioning him to come nearer. Will leaned in close and Sonny whispered in his ear. He sat back and laughed out loud, "Really, Son?"

"Yes, really." Sonny smiled back at him, "Don't make fun of me, that's where I want to go."

"Coffee!" Arianna announced, walking in or her fathers laughing. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Sweetie." Will kept laughing, shaking his head at Sonny. "Ari, how would you like to go to Disney World?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Goodnight, thanks for coming!" Will shouted out the front door as the last of the party guests left. He shut the door and bolted the lock, turning to look at the mess of empty beer bottles, plastic cups and paper plates covered with frosting. Wrapping paper covered the floor next to the stack of presents on the end table, streamers and balloons, now starting to deflate, scattered through the room.

"I'm not cleaning this tonight." He thought to himself, shutting the light off. Will walked down the hall to their bedroom and poked his head in the door, "Sonny?" he called out quietly, no answer. He closed the door and crossed the hall, silently opening the door to the next room to check on a sleeping Arianna. He took the earphones off her head and pulled the covers up over her, tucking her in. Turning the light off in the hall he headed back into the kitchen, "Sonny?", still no answer. Will looked at the pile of dishes in the sink and shook his head, "Ari can clean those." He turned the light off in the kitchen and noticed the glow from the porch light coming through the window.

"There you are." Will said, opening the sliding door to the back deck.

"Here I am." Sonny was sitting on the weathered teak chaise with a glass of milk and a piece of red velvet cake.

"Is that your second piece?" Will asked, sitting down in the chair next to Sonny.

"Third" Sonny grinned at him, putting a forkful of cake in his mouth.

"Third, Wow!"

"Leave me alone, it's my birthday."

"Sorry, Honey. I'll be nice." Will reached over and scooped some frosting off of Sonny's cake with his finger.

"Hey!" He whined at him, "Don't make me stab you with this fork."

Will licked his finger and winked at Sonny playfully. "What's that?" He asked, nodding toward the picture on the table next to Sonny.

Sonny picked up the picture and handed it to Will, "Its Ari's present. You didn't see it?"

"No, she told me about it, but I never saw it before she wrapped it." He replied, taking the picture from Sonny. "Oh, I love this picture. It's from her fifth birthday party at the lake. Do you remember how she was afraid to put her head under water because she thought a fish would swim between her missing teeth?"

Sonny laughed, "Oh yeah! She was so goofy."

Will laid the picture back down in Sonny's lap, then handed him an envelope from his back pocket. "Here, you've got one more to open."

"What's this?" Sonny asked.

"Open it."

Sonny opened the envelope and giggled as he saw them, "Disney World tickets! Aw, thank you, Sweets." Sonny patted the space next to him on the chaise. "Come here."

Will got up from his chair and lay down on the chaise, cuddling up next to him. Sonny wrapped his arms around Will and pulled him close. "I can't wait to ride Space Mountain with you."

"I've got a mountain you can ride." Will teased, pinching Sonny on the thigh. "So are you excited about next week?"

"Next week?"

"Yeah, starting Monday it's the last week of your physical therapy."

"Oh, that's right. Well, you must be happy, you won't have to drive me around and take care of me anymore."

"No, I like taking care of you." Will leaned up on his elbow and cupped Sonny's face in his hand, "Happy Birthday, Honey." he said, kissing him. "So, did you get everything you asked for?"

Sonny kissed Will back, looking deeply into his bright blue eyes. He thought back over his life with Will, smiling inside at every memory. He thought about his future with Will, looking forward to every moment with him by his side. He picked the picture up off his lap and saw happiness, saw his family. Sonny kissed Will again, savoring every second. "Yeah, Will, I'm pretty sure I have everything I need."

Will smiled knowingly at him, caressing his cheek. "Careful, Son. You know what they say about the man who suddenly gets everything he ever wanted."

"No, what?"

Will laid his head down on Sonny's chest, wrapping his arms around him. "He lived happily ever after."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

**A/N – I hope ya'll are enjoying this story. The idea was to capture moments from Will and Sonny's entire life together. When I started I knew what the first and last chapters would be and there was only going to be five chapters, but I just kept thinking of different scenes to write. Usually, I think of a line or a conversation that I would like to see them have and go from there. For instance, for these two chapters I had the idea of Arianna arguing with Sonny and saying the "You're not my father" line in Part 1 and I built the rest around that line. I have ideas for two more chapters plus the last chapter, but I would like to hear from you guys reading this story and hear what you might like to see. Let me know if there is a line or situation you would like to see. Again, thanks for all the reviews and nice comments! Cheers! **

**P.S. The last lines of this chapter are from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Because, it's raining like a mother here right now and I'm sitting on the couch with the boyfriend and the dog watching it, plus it's a good line.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N – Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this but thank you to everyone who hangs in there with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you again for all the positive reviews and comments. Also, if I could do a little shameless self promotion, if you're looking for something a little less "mushy" check out my new story, "Breaking Down Walls". This story will continue though, I have already started the next chapter. Cheers!**

* * *

**GREAT MINDS**

"You're late." Will said sternly, as Sonny rushed in through the door. "I told you that you didn't have time to go down to the gym, you should've listened to me." Will scolded him while buttoning up his shirt. "Which tie did you pack for this shirt?" he asked.

"The blue one; It's in the garment bag." Sonny replied, pulling off his sweaty gym clothes. "Sorry, I didn't think there would be a lot people working out this early."

Will grabbed the garment bag from the closet and unzipped it. "It's not the blue one with the paisleys is it? I don't like that one."

"I know you don't like the paisley one, that's why I packed the checked one. Did you find it?" Sonny dropped his underwear and stood behind Will, bare assed and smiling.

Will ruffled through the bag until he found the tie. "Oh, I like this one." he announced. He turned around was greeted by the sight of a naked and grinning, semi-excited husband. "What are you doing?" Will snickered at him.

"What? You know the gym makes me horny. You want to fool around a little?"

"Seriously, Son? We're already going to be late," Will chided him "put little Sonny and the twins away and go get in the shower."

"Fine" Sonny pouted. "But I'm going to remember this the next time you want some of my…"

"Get in the shower!" Will commanded him, slapping him on the butt.

"Okay, I'm going." Sonny went into the bathroom and turned shower on.

"And hurry up. If we miss her speech I'm going to kill you."

Sonny stepped under the water and called back to Will through the open bathroom door. "Would you stop, we have plenty of time. The valedictorian doesn't speak until the end, besides, there will be a couple hundred diplomas to hand out before she even gets up there. Why are you so antsy?"

Will flipped his collar up and wrapped the tie around his neck, walking into the bathroom to tie his tie in front of the mirror. "I don't know. I guess it's all just hitting me, you know?" Will straightened his collar over the tie and leaned against the bathroom door, talking to Sonny through the fogged up shower door. "Today she graduates from college, in a couple months she starts a new job in California…" Will sighed heavily, "…it seems like just yesterday she was sleeping in my arms."

"She's grown up, Sweets. She's starting her life, it's a good thing and you should be proud of her. I know I am." Sonny shut the water off and opened the shower door, "Can you throw me a towel?"

He picked up a fluffy hotel towel and tossed it to Sonny. "I am proud of her, like beyond proud, but that doesn't change the fact that our daughters going to be on the other side of the country."

"Will, she's not moving yet. She and Tim will be back from Europe in a few weeks; then we will have her for another month before she leaves." Sonny dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist.

Will brushed Sonny's dark hair from his eyes with his fingers and gave him a peck on the lips. "Yeah, I know… I just… I'm going to miss her."

"Aw, I'm going miss her too, but we'll visit as much as we can." Sonny wrapped his arms around Will's waist and pulled him in close. Will buried his head in Sonny's neck and sighed again.

"What is with you this morning, Will?" Sonny asked, walking out of the bathroom. "This is supposed to be a good day, our daughter is graduating from college and you're all… blah."

"That's what's wrong, we have a kid who's graduating today. We're old, Sonny."

"What? We're not old. Come on, Will, you're being a little dramatic." Sonny grabbed his pants and shirt from the hanger and began getting dressed.

"You don't ever feel old?"

"No, I don't. I think we raised a beautiful, smart, wonderful girl and now it's our time to do everything we always wanted. I feel like our life is just starting again." Sonny buttoned up his shirt and pulled his tie from the garment bag, handing it to Will.

Will wrapped the tie around Sonny's neck and buttoned his collar. "I feel like that too, Son, and I can't wait for it…" he said, tying the tie on Sonny and straightening his collar. "…I just feel old too."

Sonny grabbed Will's hands and pulled them to his chest, looking into Will's blue eyes. "Hey, you are not old, you hear me?" he said tenderly. "You are still the gorgeous, sweet young guy I kissed on the park swing 25 years ago, and you will always be that guy to me, got it?"

Will shook his head and smiled adoringly at him, "You always know the right thing to say to me, don't you?" He kissed Sonny lovingly, wrapping his arms around Sonny's neck as the kiss deepened. "You still want to fool around?" he asked, gently biting Sonny's lower lip.

"You know I do, but were already late, remember?"

"Okay, let's go, but we're going to finish this later." Will grabbed his jacket off the chair and waited for Sonny to get his wallet and the car keys. "You ready?"

"Yep, do you have the directions?"

"They're on my phone." Will told him.

Will reached for the door handle just as a knock came from the other side of the door. He turned to Sonny and mouthed "Who is that?"

Sonny shrugged at him and mouthed back. "Open it."

He opened the door to a good looking young man in his mid-twenties standing on the other side. He was lean and muscular with thick dark hair and his deep brown eyes stood out against his gold t-shirt with Wake Forest Lacrosse printed in black on the chest. "Tim?" Will was taken aback by Arianna's boyfriends surprise visit. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Mr. Horton, Mr. Kiriakis, did I catch you at a bad time?" Tim asked.

"No, we were just heading to the hall for the ceremony." Sonny told him, "Isn't that where you should be?"

"Yes Sir." Tim replied with his Georgian drawl. "I am running a bit late, but I had to come by and see y'all, I have a favor to ask of you. Mind if I come in?"

Will stepped aside, and motioned for Tim to enter, shutting the door behind him. "Is everything alright, is Ari okay?"

"Oh, yes sir, she's fine. She's with my mom at the hall; she was practicing her speech when I left. She doesn't know I'm here, I told her I forgot my cap."

"What can we do for you, Tim?" asked Sonny, sitting on the edge of the dresser, facing him.

"Well, Mr. Kiriakis…"

Will sat on the edge of the dresser next to Sonny, "Tim, we've told you that you can call us Sonny and Will, we insist."

"Yes sir, Mr. Horton… I mean Mr. Will… sorry, I mean Will…" He took and deep breath and steadied himself. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm really nervous."

Will looked to Sonny with a puzzled expression on his face, Sonny shrugged back. "What are you nervous about, Tim?"

Tim wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and started, "Okay… Well, first off let me say thank you again for the trip to Europe y'all gave us for graduation, it was very generous."

"We're happy to do it, Tim." Sonny told him, "Ari says that you two are really looking forward to it."

"Yes sir, we are. She goes on and on about all the times you took her when she was younger. She said that she especially loved Ireland. We are even staying at the same Inn that you took her to."

"Yeah, she really enjoyed that place." Will smiled at the memory of Ari running through the lush green Irish countryside.

"Yes sir, she did. Ari says that's why green is her favorite color. Anyway, one of the days that we will be there happens to be our three year anniversary, and… okay, here goes…" Tim took another deep breath, and stood up straight, directly in front of Will and Sonny. "Mr. Horton and Mr. Kiriakis, I love Arianna and I am here to ask you for your daughter's hand in marriage. I would like your permission to ask Ari to marry me."

"What?!" Sonny asked excitedly, "Tim, that's fantastic!" He jumped off the dresser and embraced Tim excitedly. "You absolutely have our permission. Right, Will?" The two of them turned to Will, sitting on the edge of the dresser in stunned silence.

"Will, did you hear Tim?" Sonny asked, noticing his blank stare. "Isn't it great?"

"Mr. Horton, are you okay with this?" Tim asked.

"Will? WILL?"

"Hmm? Oh sure...no, yeah… I mean, absolutely." Will stood up and shook Tim's hand. "Sorry, Tim, you just took me by surprise. We already consider you part of the family. Let's make it official. "

"Great, thank you so much." Tim said, "And, please, don't mention anything to Ari."

"We'll leave that up to you." Sonny teased him. "Now get back to the hall and get your diploma."

"Okay, thanks again. See y'all there."

Sonny opened the door and let Tim out, waving goodbye as Tim rushed down the hallway to the elevator. He closed the door and watched Will sit back down with a stunned look in his face. "Wow, huh? I didn't see that coming."

"Yeah, it's something, alright." Will said.

"Are you okay?" Sonny asked. "Aren't you happy for Ari?"

"No, it's not that, I'm ecstatic for her. Tim's great and those two were meant for each other, But…"

"You feel old."

"Yeah, I feel old." He sat on the edge of the dresser seemingly unable to speak as memories of Arianna ran through his mind…

* * *

Will and Sonny waited it the corner booth of the small diner in Winston-Salem flipping through the menu. Sonny poured his second cup of coffee from the insulated pot on the table and fiddled anxiously with the silverware rolled up in a napkin. "Nervous?" Will asked him.

"A little yeah, what if we don't like him?" he replied.

"Relax, if Ari likes him then I'm sure we will." Will reassured him. "What are you going to have for breakfast?"

"Not sure, probably the buffet. It looks pretty good and I'm really hungry."

Will glanced over to him with a waiting look, "Well? Aren't you going to ask me what I'm going to eat?"

"Hah, no. You're going to get the same thing you always get, whenever we go anywhere for breakfast. Two eggs scrambled, bacon and hash browns."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Don't I?" Sonny teased.

"I'm going to get my eggs over-easy just to prove you wrong."

"No you're not, you hate runny yolks."

"I do, they're disgusting."

"Are y'all ready to order?" the elderly waitress asked with pleasant sweet voice.

"Sorry, not just yet. We're still waiting on two other people." Sonny told her.

"I haven't seen you folks around here before, y'all from out of town?" she asked.

Will nodded, "Yeah, we're just down to visit our daughter. She's a sophomore at Wake Forest."

"That's a good school, she must be smart. You should be proud." She smiled at them.

"We are. Very proud." Sonny agreed.

"Well, I'll come back in a bit. Can I get you anything while you wait?"

"No thanks. We're okay."

The waitress walked away and Sonny looked at his watch. "We said 8:00 right? They're late."

Will laughed at him, "First off, you do realize that you complaining about someone being late is ridiculous. Second, would you calm down; they'll be here when they get here." Will took a sip of his coffee and looked toward the door. "Wait, there she is." he motioned out the window as he saw Arianna and her boyfriend in the parking lot getting out the car. "Holy crap Son, he looks just like you."

"What?" Sonny turned around to see for himself. "I guess, kind of…"

"Sonny, I'm telling you. That kid is you 25 years ago."

"You're seeing things." Sonny said nudging him in the leg. "Be quiet now, here they come. What was his name again?"

"Tim." Will reminded him.

Arianna opened the door, immediately noticing them in the corner booth. She smiled and waved at them and headed over. Sonny and Will stood up and greeted Arianna, hugging and kissing her hello as Tim stood behind her nervously wiping his palms on his jeans.

"Guys, I want to meet my boyfriend Tim."Arianna said, pulling Tim forward, "Tim, these are my fathers, my daddy Will and my dad Sonny."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Horton, Mr. Kiriakis," Tim said, shaking their hands. "Ari talks about you so much, I feel like I already know you."

"Nice to meet you too, Tim." Sonny shook Tim's hand. "Have a seat, are you guys hungry?"

"Starving." Tim said as they all sat down in the booth, noticing that Will was staring at his face intently. "Is something wrong Mr. Horton? Is there something on my face?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong. Sorry, Tim. You just… you look like someone I used to know."

Sonny nudged Will under the table to stop. "Have you been here before?" he asked Tim, "What's good?"

"We've been a couple times," Tim replied. "I usually get the breakfast buffet; Ari always gets the same thing, two eggs scrambled…"

"…bacon and hash browns." Will finished his sentence, and gave Arianna a look. "Just like her daddy."

Arianna smiled at Will, "What can I say? Great minds think alike."

"Ari and I have similar tastes in food." Will said to Tim, then gave Sonny a subtle knowing look and whispered, "Among other things."

Sonny nudged him again, this time a little harder.

Tim stood up from the table, "Would y'all excuse me. I'm going to go wash my hands. I didn't have time before we left. I'll be right back."

Arianna watched Tim walk to the bathroom then turned to Will and Sonny. "Well?" she asked excitedly. "What do you think?"

"He seems nice, Pumpkin. I mean for the two minutes we've known him." Sonny teased her.

"Be nice, please. I really like him." She said "He's cute isn't he?"

Will snickered and gave Sonny a knowing look. "Yes, he's cute sweetie. But don't you think he looks kind of familiar?"

Sonny nudged him again. "Will, I said stop."

Arianna saw the two of them exchange looks. "What's going on?" she asked them. "Am I missing something?"

"It's nothing, Ari. Your father thinks that Tim looks like me when I was younger." Sonny told her.

"Here look," Will said, flipping through the photos on his phone. "This one, here." He gave the phone to Arianna. "That photo was taken by your mom on mine and dad's first date twenty-something years ago."

Arianna looked at the photo of Will and Sonny in the town square. Sonny was smiling at the camera while Will was staring at the side of Sonny's face with an adoring smile on his face. "Aww, you guys look so young and cute." Arianna cooed.

"You mean as opposed to now, when were old and ugly?" Sonny joked.

"Exactly." she smiled, teasing him back.

"Yeah, yeah" Will waved his hand at them. "Look at Sonny in that picture, doesn't he look like Tim?"

"Kind of, I guess." She said setting Will's phone on the table.

"See?" Sonny said, "Give it up, Will."

"You guys are blind." Will put his phone back in his pocket; being shushed by Arianna as Tim returned to the table, followed by the waitress.

"Y'all ready order?" she asked, politely smiling at Tim and Arianna.

They all ordered their breakfasts and Tim and Sonny got up and headed for the buffet while Will and Arianna waited at the table. Arianna leaned her head on Will's shoulder and he put his arm around her, kissing her on the head. "How are you, Sweetie? Are you enjoying school?"

"I love it, Daddy. I just miss you guys."

"I know, we miss you too, but we are so proud of you." He said, pulling her in close.

They sat and watched Sonny and Tim waiting in line for the buffet, chatting and talking. "So, is Tim a good guy?" Will asked "Does he treat you right?"

"Yes, Daddy, he's great. Smart too."

Will noticed the look on her face as she watch Tim talking to Sonny. "You look happy."

"I am." She said. "Daddy, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"How do know when you're in love?"

Will smiled at her, "I knew it. You have that look on you face when you look at him."

"What are you talking about?" she asked innocently.

"Ari, Sweetie, I can't tell you when you know you're in love. You just know." Will said, reaching in his pocket for his phone. "You can't prepare for it, you can't force it, it just hits you… and you know." He showed her the picture again of him and Sonny on their first date. "Do you see that look on my face? The way I'm looking at your Dad?"

"Yeah." She said knowingly, smiling at the picture of Will and Sonny.

"Sweetie, sometimes it can happen in a Town Square after waiting for someone for 20 minutes…" Arianna giggled at him, "… and sometimes it can happen in line at a breakfast buffet. But when you look at someone like that," He held the photo up again, "like the way you just looked at Tim. Well, Sweetie, that's love."

Arianna put her head back on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, turning her attention back to Tim and Sonny. "You know, I can see it now, they really do look alike."

"Great minds, sweetie." Will said, kissing her on the head again. "Great minds."

* * *

"Will?" Sonny nudged Will out of his daze. "Will? What we're you thinking about?"

"Nothing, sorry." Will replied, nervously rolling the graduation program in his hand. "What were you saying?

"I said don't tear that, I want to save it." Sonny took the program from Will and tried straightening it.

"I'm sure we can get another one, don't worry so much."

"Me?" Sonny chuckled, "Look at you, you're more nervous than she is."

"I can't help it. She's almost up. What if she forgets something?"

"She's got her speech memorized already, plus she'll have it on paper in front of her, she's going to do great. So relax and enjoy it."

Will squirmed in his seat, biting his fingernails, craning his neck to find the best angle to see the stage in the auditorium. "Our daughter's the valedictorian, you think they would give us better seats." He complained.

Sonny shook his head at him, flipping through the program, stopping on the page with the profile of Arianna. He stared at the collage of pictures of Arianna from over the years, baby pictures, grade school photos and family pictures of the three of them. He stopped and stared at the picture of him and Arianna fishing off the dock at the lake, taken on her sixth birthday. "Remember that?" He said, showing it to Will, the emotions of the day finally setting in. He sniffled and wiped the beginning a tear from his eye.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, wrapping his arm around Sonny's shoulders seeing his demeanor change.

"I was just thinking about what you were saying earlier." Sonny caressed the photo with his thumb, "I remember that day like it was yesterday; and now… she's going to be gone soon."

"Aw, you starting to feel old?" Will teased.

"Shut up." Sonny smiled and nudged him playfully, then turned his attention to the stage, with excitement. "It's starting. There she is." He grabbed Will's hand as the Dean took to the podium to announce Arianna.

"Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It's my pleasure to introduce the Valedictorian of this year's graduating class, Arianna Grace Gabriella Horton-Kiriakis."

Will and Sonny stood and cheered and clapped along with crowd, being nearly the last ones to sit down as Arianna reached the podium, Tim was the last. "Thank you," Arianna spoke as the audience settled, "Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Graduates, Moms… and Dads." she said, looking and smiling toward Will and Sonny. "I am honored to be chosen this year's Valedictorian…"

Sonny and Will sat hand in hand, beaming with pride and hanging on every word as Arianna continued her speech. Sonny squeezed Will's hand tight, as he watched Arianna. His thoughts drifted from Will to Gabi, then back to Arianna smiling as the crowd cheered and laughed along with his daughter. Arianna was an adult, was graduating from college and would soon be engaged, but as Sonny looked on all he saw was a six year old girl, sitting on a dock at a lake, fishing with her dad…

* * *

"It won't bite you, I promise." Sonny told her.

"Are you sure, Sonny?" Arianna asked him, staring into the bucket of shrimp.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"You said broccoli tastes good."

"Alright, smart aleck." Sonny teased her. "Do you want me to put it on your hook?"

"No, I can do it." Arianna slowly reached into the shrimp bucket with her eyes closed. "Ewwww, Ewwww, They're squishy!" she exclaimed pulling a shrimp out of her hand and showing it to Sonny.

"Good job, Pumpkin. Now put the hook through the middle, but be careful of your fingers." Sonny watched her carefully, smiling at her as she stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth, concentrating on hooking the shrimp.

"Got it!" she said proudly, showing it to Sonny.

"Okay. Are you ready to cast it? Do you remember how I showed you?" Sonny stood back to give Arianna room to cast her bait into the water.

"I remember." She said. She pressed the button of the pink reel on her little pink fishing pole, drew back and threw the bait as far as she could. Jumping up and down excitedly as the shrimp hit the water. She turned back toward Will, who was walking toward them with his camera. "Daddy!' she screamed at him "Look, I did it all by myself!"

"I see that, Sweetie. Nice job. Sonny taught you well. Didn't he?" he said, giving Sonny a peck on the lips.

Sonny cast his line out and sat down on the dock next to Arianna, swinging her feet off the edge of the dock. "Turn around and say cheese." Will said, pointing the camera at them."Cheese!" they called out as Will snapped their picture. "I'm going to put the burgers on the grill, you guys have fun." he told them and headed back up to the picnic area.

"Bye, Daddy." She called out after him, turning her attention back to the pink bobber floating on top of the water, waiting for the slightest of movements.

Sonny watched her face as she concentrated on the bobber, and noticed a puzzled expression come over her face. "Sonny?" she asked curiously.

"Something on your mind, Pumpkin?"

"How come nobody else in my class has a Sonny?"

"What do mean, Ari?"

"Everybody else in my class has a mommy and a daddy. I have a daddy and a Sonny. How come no one else has a Sonny?"

Sonny panicked a little at her question, look back toward Will wondering if he should call him over to help him with an answer. "Um, well Pumpkin." he started nervously, "A 'Sonny' isn't a thing like a mommy or daddy. Sonny is my name, like your daddy's name is Will and your mommy's name was Gabi. Understand?"

"So, if boys are daddies and girls are mommies, that means you're my daddy, just like Daddy is my daddy?"

He thought about her sentence for a second, "Um, yeah," he said "actually, that's exactly right."

"Then how come I call you Sonny?"

"Um…" Sonny looked back up toward Will again, "Well… okay… remember how Daddy and I explained to you about how I adopted you when you were really little?"

"Uh, huh." She replied, still swinging her feet.

"Well, you see, we decided that we would let you figure out on your own what you wanted to call me. Everybody else always called me Sonny, so you just started calling me Sonny."

"Well, I don't want to call you Sonny anymore." She said matter-of-factly.

"Ari, you can call me anything you…"

"It moved!" Arianna screamed out as her bobber ducked underwater.

"Give it a jerk." Sonny told her, "Like I showed you."

"I know!" she said excitedly, yanking back on her fishing pole as the line started being pulled out.

"Reel it in slowly." Sonny stood up and wrapped his arm around her waist so she wasn't pulled in by the fish. "I've got you, just reel it in. Remember, reel it in a little then pull back a little." He reminded her.

Arianna did as instructed, she cranked the little pink reel then pulled back on little pink fishing pole until a five inch perch was hanging on her line out of the water. "I did it!" she yelled out, showing the fish to Sonny.

"You sure did, Ari. You want to go show Daddy?"

"Uh huh!" She started to run back toward the picnic area where Will was, then stopped and turned and walked back to Sonny. Set leaned her pole against the railing of the dock and wrapped her arms around Sonny's waist. "Thank you for helping me." She said, hugging him.

"Aw, you're welcome, Pumpkin." he told her, smiling down at her and ruffling her pigtailed hair.

She picked up her pole and looked back at him again, "I love you, Dad." then ran up the hill to show off her fish.

* * *

The crowd cheered as Arianna finished her address to her fellow graduates. "Thank you." She spoke; then addressed the audience again.

"And lastly, I would like to thank the two people whose support is why I am standing here today, and is the reason I am the person I am, my fathers, William Horton and Sonny Kiriakis." The audience erupted again as Arianna's voice cracked when she said their names.

"Some would say that my family is unconventional, these people have never met my family. My house was filled with love and happiness. As a child I was taught to accept new challenges with an open mind, whether it was dance class, which I hated," she paused as the crowd laughed "or broccoli, which I also hated." The audience laughed again.

Will squeezed Sonny's hand tighter, wiping a tear from his eye. Sonny smiled at him, wiping away his own tears as Arianna continued.

"I was taught the importance of learning, both of formal education of life experience. Every summer between school we would travel as a family and I was exposed to culture and art and history that cannot be learned from books. When I graduated from high school, my parents started a scholarship travel program so other students in our small town would have the opportunity to experience the places I was privileged enough to see. From this my parents taught me the value of charity." Arianna paused again as the audience applauded.

"From their meager beginnings to their later successes, my parents have never changed who they are. They are generous and kind to fault with a capacity for love that is unmatched. They have instilled these values in me, these are the values of my unconventional family." Arianna stopped and turned to Will and Sonny. "Daddy? Dad?" she called out into the crowd, "Would you guys stand up?"

Sonny and Will stood and the crowd erupted in cheers to a standing ovation. Will shyly waved at the crowd as Sonny nudged his shoulder, smiling wide at him. They clapped and blew kisses to Arianna.

Arianna applauded her parents along with the audience the turned back to the podium. "These are my parents, and I want to thank them for all they have done and continue to do for me. I want to thank you for listening to me and I will leave you with this. I was raised in a house filled with love and support, and that love and support led me where I stand right now. I think the world would be a better place if all children were raised with the love that I was, if all children were raised with a Daddy… and a Sonny."


End file.
